Winefriend by David Way

Writing about the wines of Piemonte, Italy and France

Like, admire or love?

I recently held a small tasting of Tuscan reds, mostly Sangiovese-based which raised intriguing questions about how much we like a wine.  The occasion was the opportunity to taste the glossy wines of Podere Forte (which I review at length here) alongside some Tuscan classics.  

The rest of the group tasted the three Podere Forte wines blind and were a little baffled by them.  One comment was that they were all of outstanding quality (on the WSET scale) but the person did not really like them.  Full marks for objectivety here, but at the end of day we buy and drink the wines we love, not just those that we admire.  

The issue was very precisely put into focus by the Tuscan classics we tasted alongside the Podere Forte wines.  While the latter had not really shone on their own, once we had done the rounds of Montepulciano, a Chianti Classico look-alike and Montalcino, you could more easily appreciate how fruity the top wine, Petruccio, was.  But do you really want marked fruit expression in Tuscan Sangiovese?  The star of the evening … 

undoubtedly was Piaggone, Brunello di Montalcino, Salicutti 2012, 15% with its intense and sublime combination of sour cherry, red plum, savoury and balsamic notes and its stony finish.  This was the wine we loved.  Avignonesi’s Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, 2012, 14% was liked by everybody, but didn’t move any of our tasters. The same could be said of Torrione, Fattoria Petrolo, Val d’Arno di Sopra DOC, 2012, fruitier for having 20% of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.  Surprisingly, the least liked wine was the rather tough and fruit-less Rosso di Montalcino, Biondi-Santi, 2012, 12.5% (the estate which created Brunello di Montalcino), though it gets a mark – at least from me – for the low alcohol level. 

It’s a good question to ask yourself at a tasting: do I like/dislike this wine, admire it or love it – and why? These simple questions will help you to navigate the intriguing combination of personal taste or preference and wine quality.  (This is the vinous equivalent of Snog, Marry, Avoid? but perhaps we won’t go there.) You are making progress in wine appreciation when you can admire a wine you don’t particularly like or love.  

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