tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post6567451491819903161..comments2024-03-18T04:47:16.199-07:00Comments on The Gray Report: Book review: Eric Asimov's "How to Love Wine"W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-24961551223531950952012-09-26T21:40:49.310-07:002012-09-26T21:40:49.310-07:00Blake,
I agree with What Fred Swan wrote about bli...Blake,<br />I agree with What Fred Swan wrote about blind tasting and why they are important.<br />It's also important to note that blind tasting are not exactly the foundation of wine education. In order to obtain a Somm certification by the Court of Masters one has to pass 3 sections: theory, blind tasting and service.<br />The theory section is extremely difficult ( especially if you are DAPZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15863208745641017208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-21267244374571516512012-09-26T15:33:34.466-07:002012-09-26T15:33:34.466-07:00I have some intellectual/academic issues with Asim...I have some intellectual/academic issues with Asimov's tenets here: "Don't taste wine, feel it. Don't identify wine, enjoy the story". That is, on an intellectual and cultural level, dangerous. Never mind, that by retelling the story rather than critically analyzing the wine makes the writer a PR mouthpiece of the company.<br /><br />Thank You and if you don't how wine jo6pachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13243469700844995455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-28804556454264431762012-09-26T12:00:58.723-07:002012-09-26T12:00:58.723-07:00Pinotgraves: You have struck at the heart of why I...Pinotgraves: You have struck at the heart of why I don't like Terry Thiese's book, even though most people seem to. I refuse to accept that anybody who wasn't making wine 200 years ago should just give up and plant turnips.W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-85799827709940033162012-09-26T10:43:59.538-07:002012-09-26T10:43:59.538-07:00I enjoyed your review, Blake, and am looking forwa...I enjoyed your review, Blake, and am looking forward to the book. <br /><br />A note on the blind tasting thing: I agree that, as stated, there's no real occasion on which it would be important to be able to taste a wine blind and identify it. However, there is a purpose to the exercise for sommeliers and others who communicate with consumers about wine. In order to be able to identify wines Fred Swan, www.norcalwine.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05949258939054554459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-7374341395445482312012-09-26T10:43:28.192-07:002012-09-26T10:43:28.192-07:00In Terry Theise's "Between the Vines"...In Terry Theise's "Between the Vines", he disdains blind tasting, and then basically states that "New World" wine is an impossible enterprise--that wine regions should use their own indigenous cultivars and by definition that means the New World is SOL. Catch-22, anyone?<br />Blind tasting can be a parlor trick, but it can also be damn useful in challenging assumptions. Pinotgraveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06123660758178090092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-5744896442026457802012-09-26T10:27:13.457-07:002012-09-26T10:27:13.457-07:00I have some intellectual/academic issues with Asim...I have some intellectual/academic issues with Asimov's tenets here: "Don't taste wine, feel it. Don't identify wine, enjoy the story". That is, on an intellectual and cultural level, dangerous. Never mind, that by retelling the story rather than critically analyzing the wine makes the writer a PR mouthpiece of the company.<br /><br />Wine is a product like any other, no Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04213984217724336433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-92016702631289385912012-09-26T09:06:05.687-07:002012-09-26T09:06:05.687-07:00SUAMW: Interesting point. You don't actually h...SUAMW: Interesting point. You don't actually have to identify the wine you were brought, though. You just have to say "this isn't Sauvignon Blanc." But yeah, that could happen.W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-74164255766867733312012-09-26T08:59:43.936-07:002012-09-26T08:59:43.936-07:00"There's never a situation, even for a ma..."There's never a situation, even for a master sommelier, when you actually need to identify a wine blind"<br /><br />YES, there IS: in a restaurant, when you order a glass of wine and the waiter brings you something you did not order.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04213984217724336433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-25491011897081048842012-09-26T06:40:34.955-07:002012-09-26T06:40:34.955-07:00If Asimov is right about the non-progression of wi...If Asimov is right about the non-progression of wine drinkers from simple to more complex, then there is less a need than we think to try to "de-mystify" wine. The natural inference from his contention is that wine lovers are born and not made...that there is an emotional attachment to the beverage that is far more important for the consumer AND the producer than any ordinary message ofSteven Mirassouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04245351445438103732noreply@blogger.com