Categories
Bottle Shock
A great article in the Globe and Mail about wine connoisseurs. Basically a couple of movies (Bottle Shock and Judgment of Paris) are coming out about the 1976 Paris wine tasting session where Californian wines took the world by storm, at a time when they were frowned upon.
In the blind tasting many of the judges confused the Californian wine with French wines, much to their embarrassment. But the worst part is how vocal they were about it, claiming to identify classic French wines, but were actually Californian.
"Without the benefit of a glance at the label, wine connoisseurship is so much hot air and bluster."
With my presentation (Sensory Perception and Mixology) just completed at Tales of the Cocktail this article could not be anymore timely. It just serves as a warning that no matter how good we think we are, in a blind tasting anything can happen because there are not external influences.
As Georg Riedel, head of the famous Austrian wine-glass company who's seen his share of boneheaded guesses by famous palates, once wisely and humbly told me, "A label on a wine substitutes 10,000 years of [tasting] experience."
Good read, go check it out: Wine connoisseurs - I call them cons
44 Comments on Bottle Shock
Leave a Comment
I saw the movie at Sundance, and it was something else. It shows the expertise and the devotion that the Californian winerys put into their wine, while still showing how much fun the people working there had. Plus, the blind tasting was hilarious. Just seeing the French when they're wrong is enough for me haha.
I saw it at a free screening last week. Agree about your French comment, haha. Alan Rickman was hilarious-- his performance alone was worth checking it out. I was really impressed with the whole cast though. I think Chris Pine is a name to watch.
I'll definitely have to check out the movie.
My thought is that it just goes to show how much presentation is part of the food and drink experience. As I tell many a server, the guest dines with their eyes. Most of them don't believe me though. Bad product can kill an establishment, bad presentation can be just as deadly.
My friend caught it at the Maui film festival and said she really enjoyed it. I just watched the trailer on the movie's website and it looks great. Looks like a companion to Sideways....very heardfelt and fun. I'm definitely going to go see it....think I might even enter the contest on their website to get flown to LA for a screening.