Hey sommelier, what do you think of this study that
rocked the wine world and basically made wine experts look like BS artists:
https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/08/the_most_infamous_study_on_wine_tasting.html
Rose, a good French Rose, in the hot sun is crisp and refreshing, really not up for debate.
Absolutely love port wine, no clue why. Find it delicious after a nice meal, might be the gay little glasses it’s comes in but I love a tawny port.
Re: the Brochet study, it simply showed how perception can be altered by suggestion. Not all of the students got it wrong, though most did. Which brings up a major criticism of the study - these were oenology students, not sommeliers, or wine experts. Big difference. Wine tasting evolves over time. Same with bourbon. You can go over to Woodford or Makers and do a tasting and the folks there will tell you they taste vanilla, butterscotch, charcoal, caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. If you've been drinking bourbon for years, you probably will be able to as well. If you've just started, however, all you're going to get is the burn, regardless of how smooth it is. In the same way, someone who has been drinking wine for years is going to be able to pick out smells and tastes that beginners can't.
Another major criticism of the study is that it focused on only one part of wine criticism, the most subjective part - taste descriptors. It completely ignored "mouth-feel" - the effects of body, alcohol, tannins, sugar, and acid. Anyone on this thread, blindfolded, could tell a red from a white simply by feel, especially if you're given a Pinot Grigio and a Barolo. That brings me to another criticism - what wines were used? If the red was getting descriptors like raspberry, cherry, and cedar, then it was likely a fruitier, lighter, more acidic red, perhaps a Pinot Noir. If the white was a white Burgundy or CA Chardonnay, then you're going to get a similar feel to the Pinot Noir, and even some overlapping aromas/tastes. That was a long answer, but that's sort of the point. The Brochet study was incredibly limited in scope and the ramifications of its findings were blown way out of proportion. The point was to "stick it to" the French wine snobs, which I certainly condone, but other than that it's of little real consequence.
To your Rose point, it's coming back in a big way. White Zin killed it for a while and gave it a bad wrap, but a well-made Rose on a hot day is heaven. People are beginning to realize that so I think you'll continue to see an upward trend in Rose's popularity.
Tawny Port is outstanding, particularly the older ones. Gets expensive quickly though.
