Of Babies and Bath Water

(Or maybe you should throw out the baby & drink the bath water)

A little wine knowledge can be dangerous. The other day a colleague mentioned that he had not purchased any 2003 Loire Valley white wines and wouldn't consider buying any because the vintage had been too hot and the wines were uncharacteristically rich and lush. I asked how many Loire whites he had tasted and which producers. His response was only one or two, but that the vintage chart to which he commonly referred had stated that '03 in the Loire was one to be avoided. This scorn for the 2003 vintage reminded me of a similar situation a few years ago regarding Cabernet Sauvignon from the "so-so" 1998 vintage in California.

I am more than willing to admit that for me the difference between vintages in California is frequently a distinction without a difference. Hearing collectors of cult California wines fighting over their precious allocations from prestigious vintages can sound like Michael Jackson fighting Jim West over the latest edition of Boys Life (Most cult wine collectors do well in butter vs. "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" taste-offs.) I would also agree that some Loire Valley whites from '03 resemble a pre - Trimspa Anna Nicole Smith decked out in a pink leather mini skirt and leopard skin high heels. But in fact, I have consumed a number of very good 2003 Loire Valley whites and an awful lot of tasty 1998 California Cabernets (Beringer, Robert Craig, and Etude just to mention three) that were as good or better than wines from more celebrated vintages.

Taking advice to ignore the wines of any particular vintage will, at the very least, lead to a lot of good wine being passed over - sometimes for only marginally better wine at higher prices. The reality is that in any given vintage, in any given appellation or region, someone, somewhere, is turning out wine that is interesting and worth seeking out. If you rely on vintage charts or limit yourself to reviewers whose tastes in wine you don't really know, you are guaranteed to miss great wine, even in the most dismal of vintages. There is no substitute for tasting a wine or doing a little research about the producer and what the conditions were at his specific site.

This is not to say you should ever accept wine in any price range that is less that great. It means that, just as in the rest of life, there are no real shortcuts or quick answers regarding wines and vintages. Scores, charts, and off-the-shelf advice have limited value. Lesser vintages should be viewed as an opportunity to seek out wines that stand above the crowd. Take note of those few producers that are able to turn out good wine in difficult circumstances, and remember them! Great producers always seem to turn out something good - regardless of what a vintage gives them.