Bodybuilder wines

I’ve got it. I’m fed up with it. I’m going to stop wine drinking. This was an awful tasting week. I do not know what happened but I guess the Law of Murphy roared its ugly head.

So what happened. Well, this was one of these tasting weeks where all bodybuilder wines lined up together and I wasn’t aware that there was a bodybuilder contest.

Most of the wines I tasted this week were just overoaked, overdone. Too much, too many. Ever tried of putting a V12 Ferrari engine in a Lada? Would not be a damn pretty sight, he. This was just what all these winemakers have done with their wines: loads of power, concentration and oak but no finesse, no elegance at all.

Do you like to watch a bodybuilder woman? I for one do not! Too much power, too little elegance. Same goes with these wines. When power is not backed up by elegance it gets soooo boring, so plump, so heavy on your palate. Maybe you drink one glass, and with a tour de force a second, but then you are more than satisfied, read: fed up.

Bad news is that the wines I tasted came from all around Europe, France, Portugal, Spain,…

So dear winemakers there is for me one simple rule to follow:

the truth of a wine is in the second half of the bottle.

If you finish the bottle with a smile on your face you have a hit! Just remind me about that dinner I had a couple of weeks ago where we enjoyed some great pasta dishes with an outstanding bottle of Casale dello Sparviero, Chianti Classico 2004 at the restaurant Camogli in Mechelen (Belgium). And with a big smile we asked for a second. That is a great bottle of wine and what an exceptional year for Chianti, this 2004. So typical sangiovese, dried tea leafs, sour cherries and great structure where elegance is the keyword. When I think about it, the saliva just pops up in my mouth. Yummy!

So to all you winemakers, pretty please with sugar, ice-cream and cherries on top, stop with these overdone, overconcentrated, overoaked wines and instead think about elegance, finesse! Well, that is if you want me to finish your bottle.

Have an elegant wine today!
bart

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July 9, 2007 | Filed Under Tasting wines

Comments

2 Responses to “Bodybuilder wines”

kaat on July 9th, 2007 12:54 pm

“I’m going to stop wine drinking.”
HEY!
that’s NOT an announcement to give on a monday morning!
and
am i right in reading you are not blaming the italians from getting too macho?
cause we are heading for piemonte… and we need some real italian finesse (because that’s what italy is all about!)
… or should we take the sparviero with us?
btw: there were some nice pinot noirs last wednesday
scusi mille
.) ,)
bart on July 9th, 2007 1:57 pm

Well, I was lucky with the Italian ones. Indeed, the ones I tasted last week had some nice elegance.

I also tasted a great new world wine, an Australian shiraz who was able to put a big smile on my face. Maybe not the most sophisticated one, but well done and some great packaging. Hey, when there is also something for the eye, it just gets better…

Piemonte is in my opinion the capital of elegance, although you have some Barolista who just overdo the use of barriques. But just go out and look for yourself and see what YOU like, maybe you like the more modern approach of Barolo.