Thoughts on the tyranny of high expectations

[David M. Bueker]

I was reading a few notes people had posted on some wines, specifically California Pinot Noir, and I was struck by some very similar comments in the notes.

"It was good, perhaps very good, but I was looking for something extra."
"With all the positive comments, I expected a transformative experience."
"It costs as much as a really good village Burg, so why isn't it better?"

Now let's be fair, that the release pricing on the three wines was $59, $49 and $45, so none of them were value picks, but I could not help but wonder if the drinkers were spoiled by expectations. They opened the bottles expecting to be blown away, and were not. All noted positive reactions to the wines, but not gushing praise.

I know I have been there many times. I open a wine, and am looking for a bit of magic. The wine delivers a solid performance, and I feel let down. It's happened with California Pinot, German Riesling, Bordeaux, and pretty much everything else. When I used to attend big offlines, the story was that the white wines always overperformed, while the reds underperformed. That was largely because we had lower expectations for the white wines (well...maybe not me), and the reds suffered under the weight of their labels. We could not let the wine just be the wine.

Does this feel familiar? Have you opened a bottle, expecting to be transported to another dimension, yet been left at the dinner table? Was it you, or was it the wine.

I think we're all prisoners of our expectations.
But don't worry about the self-inflicted disappointments, revel in the times your low expectations are exceeded!

[Robin Garr]

Great question! I think it's a little different for me, with a wine life dedicated to the quest for QPR and only the rare bottle over $15 to $20, so "this is quite good" is a positive report. I'm rarely expecting more, so it's a treat when I find it.

When I expect a $15 wine to be really good, though, based on its producer or its locale, and it proves disappointing, that's probably more like what you're talking about, although the financial pain is a little less.

I open a wine, and am looking for a bit of magic. The wine delivers a solid performance, and I feel let down..

I think we can all relate to the tyranny of high expectations dynamic, and not just for wine.

But the issue of 'a bit of magic' is interesting, and it can be hard to track when that occurs and how much it can vary from bottle to bottle of the same wine. I'd like to think that I'm fairly objective and able to identify all the positive/negative redeeming/detracting traits in a wine. But that extra bit of expressiveness/magic is definitely a wild card. Most likely due to mood, temperature, physiological aspects, sensitivity of palate at that particular time.

For example, most weeks I only drink wine on Friday and Saturday and the clarity of my palate for the first few sips on Friday is when I am most likely to sense the magic!

[David M. Bueker]

Abstinence makes the palate grow more receptive.