I am not particularly fond of petrol flavour but it helps me judge the age of a German Riesling older than say, a decade. Many well-known producers and journalists often proudly describe this as a characteristic of fine Riesling. One of the MWs said that the Germans had meant ‘petrolly’ which has no equivalent in English and petrol was not meant to be the way to describe it. A couple of days later a lady wine expert from Germany soon to become an MW felt that in Alsace, in fact, it was a defect that appeared with too much sun on the leaves.
Description of Sauvignon Blanc invariably brings up cat’s pee as a positive characteristic. Seemingly, the perpetrator of the term must be a cat lover but cat’s pee! Reminds me at least, of one of our past Prime Ministers who was not only a prohibitionist (Delhi went dry for a while!) but drank his own pee daily to stay healthy. This was pre-1991 when the 60 Minutes programme on the US TV coined the word The French Paradox and averred that moderate red wine daily was healthy for you and had anti-aging effect.
Many times the wine flavour is happily described as having tobacco or tar. Being a non-smoker and in fact anti smoker, just reading about it used to put me off to an extent. The reminder of a sweaty horse’s leather saddle does not do too much to my appetite for wine either. I love the minerality in a white wine but have come across people who do not like the ‘saltiness’ in their glass which is a part of this wonderful characteristic.
My point is that the descriptions are generally individualistic in nature though the basic flavours of cherries, apples, tropical fruits, citrus or asparagus, mint, spices, chocolate and coffee, oak vanilla, and aromas of flowers like roses and acacia are fairly universal. A couple of decades ago I had met a well-know Napa producer whose Cabernet Sauvignon was delicious but I could not spot all the characteristic that his Tasting Notes said (who had tasted black-berries in India twenty years ago!). ‘Neither can I,’ he said. This had really set me off on an unbridled, individualistic journey for the discovery of different wines from different regions and countries. Even today, I occasionally come across an aroma I find almost repulsive while most fellow judges at the international wine competitions find it charming.
Not to talk of the regular premium domestic wines, even the low- end wines in India have descriptions on the back label and their poetic Tasting Notes that would make even the Growth Bordeaux Chateaux owners squirm. All this jargon could be really confusing for a novice who, no wonder, gets intimidated by wine unnecessarily.
My word of advice to those-don’t worry about the petrol, or pee in your wine- or tobacco, just take slow and full sips and focus on them while enjoying wine - the aromas (or bouquet in case the wine has evolved over the past few years), the flavour-whatever it reminds you of and the after-taste-how long does the impression last on your palate and gullet after that sip is gone. To me, a good wine is the one where I have to restrain myself from taking the next sip or the glass and perhaps opening another bottle. Maybe you love the flavour of tobacco. You might find the petrol flavour enticing-or not. Never feel shy discussing the wine or asking questions from your wine neighbour-even write to people like me whose opinion you value. But you are the king of that glass-and the judge. This also implies that before forming your opinion, you need to be fair to the wine after listening to what the colour, aromas, flavour s and end (aftertaste) communicate to you in unison, along with the general impression it leaves with you.
Subhash Arora
Names of the people involved in this Blog have been intentionally avoided- to stay focused on the issue |