Personal Taste or Lack of Education

A much discussed topic within the trade, brands, homogenisation of the end users palate, fiddling in the winery to fit a ‘universal style’ – we, the lucky ones, in the trade and especially with Les Caves, eschew these dreary examples and tell all and sundry that they are disgusting drinks conveniently labelled as ‘wine’.

The truth is these creations do account for a large chunk of sales within this islands shores, I believe, and hope, largely due to B.O.G.O.F.’s and the fact they are mostly innoffensive to nearly every palate.

I have on many occasions turned up at a friends house sporting the latest oddity that this company champions, brimming with enthusiasm and passion, be it the latest Braucol from Gaillac or Mansois from Marcillac or even a Saperavi / Dzelshavi from Georgia, only to have people spit them out with varying looks from disgust to sheer panic on their faces. I cajole, inform, explain and on the odd occasion lie to try and get them to understand where I am coming from, only to watch in horror as they head back to their latest vinous find of a new blend from Kumala or Gallo.

Wine sales in the UK go up every year which shows that in this society many people are discovering the joys of drinking wine, but unfortunately are fooled into believing that the major brands are a true expression of what wine is, and once they have found these wines, everything else is compared to them - the perfectly soft, rounded, characterless example being the one in question.

I have had many discussions with all manner of people on this subject over the years and I feel I am going to have to stand up and defend these insipid, boring potages.

There are a huge number of people who actively enjoy theses wines, and who am I to say that they are wrong, I do not criticise someone for liking Toulouse Lautrec rather than Dali, or for listening to The Pet Shop Boys as opposed to Mozart. At the end of the day personal taste reigns supreme – I may not like it but I must accept it.

I would just like to thank Messrs Narioo, Wregg, Scholes and Lubac for giving me the opportunity to embrace the wonderful, fascinating, diverse world of wine that is out there, and make up my own mind by getting to try a reasonably large chunk of it.