Style vs Quality – Grape reviews
28 October 2010
By Angela Lloyd on Grape (28 October, 2010)
One of the trickiest aspects of tasting wine is to be able to look beyond personal style preference and focus on quality. As the late, great Emile Peynaud writes in his book The Taste of Wine, ‘To be of any real value a taster must be able to make judgments independent of his personal taste and be able to justify his choice.’ (In 1983, when the book was first published, ‘he’ might have included ‘she’, but then again, it might not!)
Of course, we all have stylistic preferences and I know from experience it’s not easy to remain totally objective. Elegance, dryness where sweetness isn’t meant, oak that enriches rather than dominates with flavours that complement and freshness, whether deriving from acid or tannins are some of the features I naturally favour.
When we taste for new releases, it’s with the labels in front of us, which makes objectivity even more important, particularly when style isn’t to my or our liking. But I hope M Peynaud’s demands are met in the following reviews.
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If our preference is for the quieter, more minerally False Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010, our 14.5 reflects a wine with some weight, texture and savoury acid, but insufficient fruit. Neither sauvignon will benefit from further keeping. Approximate retail prices are R42 and R55 respectively.
