what to say when it's bad

People who know I'm a wine geek invariably ask my opinion of their "special wine." I don't want to offend them by saying I don't like it (as is often, sadly, the case) and I end up hemming and hawing, trying to think of something positive to say.

This happened again this weekend, I was served some awful Bordeaux that was made by a cousin of the Hostess. She was really proud, but I thought it was herbaceous but at the same time over concentrated, with an addition of oak juice and elmers glue. I took a couple of sips politely but drank water with the rest of the meal. (Got a headache anyway, but maybe not down to the wine, although it had "headache" writ large on the label.)

She pressed me for an opinion so I waxed on about how wonderful it must be to drink juice produced by one's very own family. Blech.

What say the fellow geeks, or those considered geeks by their friends, in these situations? Is honesty really the best policy?

-E

Reply to
Emery Davis
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Emery Davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

I would try a music or art metaphor. Not everyone likes neo contemporary,post modern deconstructed etc but somebody out there pays for it. In this one you might say "My it is very concentrated!" I am oak averse and that is one thing that I will point out, "You know we all have out tasstes and I have never been big on oak so this just isn'my cup of tea- I really like cubism you know?"

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

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Heh, nice one. Knowing myself, I'd probably come out with "this reminds me of the sound Pete Townsend gets when the guitar burns, just after he's stomped it." :) Or maybe: "evokes the sound of a four year old violin student."

-E

Reply to
Emery Davis

I'm usually pretty blunt. I usually comment on how hard it is to make really good wine at home and that I wouldn't let an amateur remover\ my appendix.

Reply to
Bi!!

I believe you are talking about a cousin who actually makes wine as a business, not your "home made" stuff.

With the home made stuff I usually say: "Interesting, it has a spritely acidity but it is a little rough on the edges, maybe try picking the grapes after Bastille day next time".

With friends asking your opinion on an allegedly great wine that they picked just for you by asking "an expert" but turns out to be worse than the home made one of the previous paragraph, you say: "Mmm, I can tell this was done by a top oenologist, very interesting, now if only he had used grapes".

Reply to
Mike Tommasi

I usually hem, haw, say something "wow, I'm really getting a lot of vanilla (or herbs, or whatever)" , say things like "just like in music, there are a lot of styles, no one likes all of them equally, that doesn't mean they're better or worse." Still, some people get offended because I don't like their Marquis-Phillips.

Reply to
DaleW

I usually hem, haw, say something "wow, I'm really getting a lot of vanilla (or herbs, or whatever)" , say things like "just like in music, there are a lot of styles, no one likes all of them equally, that doesn't mean they're better or worse." Still, some people get offended because I don't like their Marquis-Phillips.

My response is " rustic", " individual" and if really awful " what is the encepage?"

JT

Reply to
John T

I usually simply tell them that the wine is not to my taste. They then get to salvage themselves by thinking I obviously have lousy taste!!

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck Reid

What do you say when it really is a home made wine, i.e., made from a supermarket kit! A friend always took some of his kit wine to dinner parties, with great pride, of course, but his wife always made a beeline for the real stuff. Graham

Reply to
graham
Reply to
Michael Pronay

I'd take a sip and ask the hostess if her cousin crushed the grapes with his feet and then I'd suggest she should tell him to take off his sticky smelly socks because the wine is only fit to be drank by Canadians.

Reply to
CARYGRANT4U

Who could, perhaps, teach you English grammar!!

Reply to
graham

Personally, this home winemaker would be thrilled to have knowledgeable tasters point out any defects or other quality issues. I ferment high-quality Sonoma and Sierra foothill grapes exclusively, never kits. I'm continually working to increase quality; I hope I don't inflict defective wines on my guests or hosts, but if I do I want to know about it so I can learn and improve future batches. And the more precise the criticism, the better.

Ernie in Berkeley To respond, rack off the LEES

Reply to
ernie

Another way of getting around the problem is to tell you hostess that the wine is far too young to be enjoyed now and that it would benefit from a couple of decades in the cellar. Imagine that you will be invited again: if the herbacious, overextracted notes have not vanished in favour of a memorable, smooth-as-silk mouthfeel (bet it won't!), well... you could still blame it on the storage conditions...

Yves

Reply to
Yves

In Paris?

Apart from in the Loire, and Alsace, where it's more difficult finding anything else. I don't think you'll find many old people drinking Bordeaux in Alsace. Red wine is (of course) means Alsace PN.

Quite. It's the same in the shops too. The choice is mainly of local wines.

But I think you put too negative a spin on the situation. Restaurants and shops know and support their local producers. The good ones seek out the good local producers. Is that better of worse than having a broad national/international list? I'm not sure, but it's certainly a different approach.

Reply to
Steve Slatcher

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