What's the problem?

I opened two red wines tonight (a Merlot-Pinotage from South Africa and a Zinfandel from California) and they both tasted like, well, they didn't have any taste at all. They both tasted like red colored water, with some alcohol thrown in.

Any idea what the problem might be?

Granted these were expensive wines ($10 and $12 Canadian), but for that price and for those grapes, I would expect the wines to taste like something, even if it is a taste I don't care for.

I have also experienced this a couple of times in the past.

So, funny responses aside, can anyone shed any light on this puzzle? I assume it is some sort of flaw, but what?

Thanks.

A rainy, or otherwise less than adequate vintage? I've found that cheaper wines that are fine in "good" years can be horribly dilute and taste like water in bad years. Specifically what years and wines were in question?

-O-

A rainy, or otherwise less than adequate vintage? I've found that cheaper wines that are fine in "good" years can be horribly dilute and taste like water in bad years. Specifically what years and wines were in question?

-O-

The first was Kumala Merlot-Pinotage 2005 Western Cape, and the second was Talus Zinfandel 2004, Lodi, California.

The Kumala I've seen recently in grocery-store closeout bins. Maybe it's simply not that good?

The Kumala I've seen recently in grocery-store closeout bins. Maybe it's simply not that good?

There is a difference, I think, between "not that good" and a wine that doesn't taste like anything. I can understand a wine that I don't care for. I can't understand a winery intentionally making a wine that has no taste.

I probably phrased that in an overly provacative style. I'm sorry.

I didn't bite on the Kumala, but I have recently been burned by another cheap S. African, "Bob's African." Both the Pinotage and Chenin, were pretty much as you described. Dilute, even watery. I'm a lot more careful now with the inexpensive S. Africans!

Dave

I don't know about the South African wine, but it's pretty surprising that something from Lodi would be lacking in flavor. The problem with most Lodi wines is anything but too little flavor.

Perhaps they were mildly corked?


Mike

Not knowing the wines, hard to say, but the first thing that comes to mind is the idea it's not the wines, but you. Have a cold, take a medication, etc? We all have off taste days. Not meant to be a criticism, but it's a fact we all have days we seem limited.

Some wll plug astrological or other arcane reasons, but those only seem to happen to those that were already aware of the "significance" of the day. 2004 Marechal Bourgogne was rocking tonight.

Could be heat damage somewhere along the way; long term exposure at, say, 75+ could strip out the fruits.

Merlot-Pinotage isn't something I'd be tempted to pull of a shelf, you are a braver man than me.

Talus is a fairly pedestrian wine, if I may be so bold, and that may figure in with the lack of complexity.

Tim, the talus is a Sebastiani wine (or used to be) and I don't think they make a wine worth the price no matter the price.

Do you think it might be you? Some days no wine tastes right to me and on other days any good wine can be a real treat. I don't know why - fatigue, stress, borderline cold, blood sugar levels, something I ate, ....
See if the wines taste better tomorrow.

I tried the Talus:

2004 Talus, Zinfandel, Lodi, California, $8, 34,500 cases. Very drinkable right now for the cherries, cola, and brambly fruit - a value to boot; 84/86.

I wonder if you had a lightly corked bottle below your threshold that robbed the bottle of its fruit?

Do you think it might be you? Some days no wine tastes right to me and on other days any good wine can be a real treat. I don't know why - fatigue, stress, borderline cold, blood sugar levels, something I ate, ....
See if the wines taste better tomorrow.

Howie, I have many times felt that is I that is off and not the wine. When I get a bottle like that I usually do save it for the next day, and probably 30 percent of the time it is my mouth and never my nose. When that happens I can not find anything that cures it, except time. I have often wondered if others had those kinds of occurrences too.

Bruce, I can't speak to the Californian wine as I very rarely drink anything from there anymore, but as for the Merlot/Pinotage blend, I suspect that it's one of the infamous new-wave/pretty-label offerings that have begun to take up shelf space at the LCBO and that clearly are designed to be as character-less as possible. "Aggressive mediocrity" - a great term coined by Mike B. here on the forum.

I've tried a few of them over the years and promised myself to never waste my money on them anymore. Take Zonnebloem - that is a fantastic producer making wines of character for all of $13 ... when they can be found.

Edit note: I just now read that it was "Kumala". No surprise! I stick by my original suspicions.