Oenophiles! What do you reckon?

[facthunter]

So is a Rolls Royce should be cheaper than a Holden sometimes? They are both cars with four wheels. Sounds fair enough, eh! Not really.

 

The wine tastings are done "blind" the samples are not identifiable to the judges. The same top company wines consistently get good ratings, good prices and market well. The Industry awards BEST winery etc and it's generally done accurately. It's done overseas as well.

 

Sometimes there are bad Years where the quality (and quantity) in the area is down, generally.. Too much rain late frosts, rain followed by overcast days (mildew) and consecutive days of heat, Bird attack near harvest time, Grapes picked before they are ripe because the birds are about.

 

There are other variables, including Uneven ripening due bad management, Poor spray technique Pruning technique etc and the GOOD quality tonnage is lowered . Some slightly ordinary stuff might go into some not the BEST Blends to cover the shortage and. the bad stuff gets lower prices but still sells as the total is down. These are "not good years " on the wine calendar.

 

. Sometimes there is a widespread bumper crop and the wineries cannot handle the extra and the worst of it's picked on the ground if it can be organized that way, or sold to make spirits (distilled).at prices below cost of production. or goes to the BOX trade. You have to look after your vineyard so you can't just leave the grapes to rot. There's a vast difference between a well managed vineyard and a so so one, all the way through from rootstock type, trellis design/orientation weed management spraying technique. soil analysis PH control, mineral supplements/ fertilisers, foliar sprays. Water table management soil moisture, drainage /irrigation bird netting. and so on. In hot areas it's picked (mechanically) during the night usually employing about 8 people to one harvester and two tractors moving bins all done under lights, to get the crop to the winery in best condition on semi's straight away. Everyone's covered in grapejuice and spiders at the end of the night. Sticky and tired out You have to be ready, repaired, cleaned fueled, greased and checked and ready to go by 2000 that day for the next night's effort . One night I got 78 tons off. That would make about 62,000 bottles of wine It cost the Winery about $2.40/bottle on Year 1997 to do their part of the business. Stuff going overseas is invoiced at about 68% of what you would get here. I guess that's to try to get the market penetration, But "they" get it cheaper than we do. .Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

There are vast chasms between the skills the vigneron employs to produce good grapes; the skills of the wine maker, and the knowledge of the average consumer.

 

That's why I'm glad I learned what being awarded a bronze, silver or gold medal in competition means when I have to choose between Bottle A and Bottle B when buying wine.

 

 

[facthunter]

You have to work out what category the award was given under, and just where the place was it happened. It could be Black Stump "Rough Barby Red". Class 9 group z. Some of that stuff is just label enhancing baubles. Fools are easily fooled..

 

Penfolds got the award for best winemaker the year before last. Deservedly so by most who follow these things If you drink mainly to get plastered (merry or off your brain) just get the chateau cardboard.at a discount. or buy ethanol and add syrup to it. and book your liver transplant.. A few are marketing such products. often marketed as GIN. Gin is usually flavoured with juniper berries.

 

Good wineries " Culture " their OWN yeasts, that's how particular they are. Some home winemakers particularly from Eastern Europe, use the "wild" yeasts (The bloom on the berries) but the result can be variable. That is usually called Grappa... Nev . Drink less of better..Less hangovers.

 

 

[octave]

It is always important to consider where medals are from and what they are for and indeed whether or not they are actually medals. I bought this bottle along with some other better bottles whilst in New Zealand. I was so amused by the endorsements on this bottle so I bought it as more of a talking point. Just for the record the endorsement of readers digest is not necessarily a good thing.

 

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[Old Koreelah]

... Just for the record the endorsement of readers digest is not necessarily a good thing.

Too plurry right, Octave. An uncle gave my parents a lifetime subscription to RD. Being an insatiable reader, these magazines and associated books were an important part of my upbringing.

 

Long afterwards, as more sources of info became available, I realised how much I'd been lied to by this American publication.