I'll see if I can find it, but it doesn't change the fact that I can identify the varietals in many wines. Yes there is some gray area. An oaked Sauvignon Blanc may taste a lot like an oaked Chardonnay and may be hard to differentiate.
Even a Merlot with 25% Cabernet and a Cabernet with 25% Merlot may be hard to pick, but a good Pinot Noir and a good Cabernet. No contest.
Andy
But he said three different "varitals", I took it as varietals. Pinot, Cab., Syrah. Three different varietals. Maybe I misunderstood ?
Sure you go to a place and order three Cabernets it may be hard to distinguish. There is a good chance that all three will be similar blends using the same wine making techniques, etc, bought my the same guy because they are the same, what he likes.
There is also a lot of wine being "Parkerized". Made in a similar style because it is more likely to score bigger points with the wine critics.
Andy
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Because they can get more points from the critics and then can raise the price.
Andy
I didn't mean to imply that _you_ can't tell Cabernet from Pinot Noir. The paper simply indicates that most people can't. Regards, lum
Yeah, but there are varietals and then there are varietals. If someone makes a pinot which can't be distinguished from one of the bordeaux varietals, then they've made a bad pinot.
The better trick is to pick out the same wine from three similar vaietals.
Dave
**************************************************************************** Dave Breeden snipped-for-privacy@lightlink.com
So true. The one caveat is that sometimes different varietals can converge with extended bottle aging. Zinfandel is a prime example. Some people report that a well made Zinfandel that is aged tastes remarkably like an aged Bordeaux. I just don't have enough experience with aged Zinfandel to really know.
Even then, I'll still put my money on my nose. This isn't to say that I can't be fooled, but most wines have enough differences that I could match up the two glasses that are the same. I would win more than I lost, provided the deck wasn't stacked against me.
Andy
This is a fascinating topic (perhaps it deserves its own thread). I remember reading that as part of the test to become a wine master you had to be able to pick different varieties out of a blended wine in taste tests and this impressed me tremendously. I can distinguish the taste of different varieties in a taste test, but still can't name which is which. But, I don't see it as something that should be that impossible with practice and training.
Does the article say exactly what these "trained" people were trained to do?
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