Are you a Robert or a Jancis?

It is scientifically proven that we all taste differently. The appreciation of wine is subjective. How can one person describe a wine for another? They don’t. All a wine critic can do is describe what they taste, what their olfactory system is telling them. This differs depending on their sex, age, culture, diet, time of the day …. the variables are never-ending. With something as complicated as wine (which itself is changing every second) we have to start somewhere.  The opinions of an informed experienced wine expert is a good start but only if they taste in a similar way to you. It is like a film critic. You need to find the guy that has a similar taste to you. If you can find someone that is.

I tasted three 2007 wines blind from St Julien all fourth growths and ranked them in order of preference. Here are my notes;

Wine 1: Fragrant florale nose. Very soft and fresh ripe fruit. Freshness key impact.

Wine 2: Smokey, sweet cherry nose. Very soft melted fruit on the palate. Light but elegant but bitter short finish.

Wine 3: Toasty blackcurrant nose. Smooth and rounded on the palate with good structure and volume. Potential.

In order of being served my preference was 2, 3, 1.

The opinions of Jancis Robinson (JR), Stephen Brooks (SR) and Revue de Vins de France (RVF) and Parker (P)

                                     JR        SB          RVF          P

Beychevelle                 16.5    14.5       15-16     87-90

Brainaire                      15        16         16-17    90-92

Talbot                         14.5    16.5       15-16    84-86

My favorite was Brainaire like Parker and RVF. My second choice was the Talbot, Stephen Brook’s favorite and my least favorite was the Beychevelle. As you see no-one agrees!