Post by cjm on Feb 17, 2014 5:11:37 GMT
A favourite commentary by Peynaud
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Today’s most fashionable grape variety is Cabernet Sauvignon. Wines made from it are now encountered worldwide. They smell of resin in Porto Carras, of cloves in the Guadeloupe Valley in southern California, of liquorice in Rioja, of seaweed in wines from the Golfe du Lion sand flats, of grape stems in the Languedoc, of industrial fumes near Santiago in Chile and of soot from Eger in Hungary. There are some which closely resemble the Médocain model (to be found, though rarely, in California, Australia or Chile); but much more common are those which bear little resemblance to the Bordeaux bench—mark. In the latter cases what would be considered a defect anywhere else is presented as a virtue: the smell of green olives, of new mown hay, of creosote or of suspect odours suggestive of indole. The herby—stemmy flavour of some Cabernet Sauvignons (and Merlots) from the Alto Adige is also presented as a sign of quality.
Peynaud p57
...
Today’s most fashionable grape variety is Cabernet Sauvignon. Wines made from it are now encountered worldwide. They smell of resin in Porto Carras, of cloves in the Guadeloupe Valley in southern California, of liquorice in Rioja, of seaweed in wines from the Golfe du Lion sand flats, of grape stems in the Languedoc, of industrial fumes near Santiago in Chile and of soot from Eger in Hungary. There are some which closely resemble the Médocain model (to be found, though rarely, in California, Australia or Chile); but much more common are those which bear little resemblance to the Bordeaux bench—mark. In the latter cases what would be considered a defect anywhere else is presented as a virtue: the smell of green olives, of new mown hay, of creosote or of suspect odours suggestive of indole. The herby—stemmy flavour of some Cabernet Sauvignons (and Merlots) from the Alto Adige is also presented as a sign of quality.
Peynaud p57