What "Big Name" Wine/Grape/Region Do You Not "Get"?

[Bill Spohn]

Lots of stuff I don't connect with.

Pinotage

Bordeaux after the mid 1990s

Many Australian red wines in this millennium

Why people seem to think Carmenere is so good (see 'pinotage' above)

Most South American Malbecs - they make the same mistake as the Aussies that sweet concentration must = quality (it may, however, = sales when it catches the approval of critics)

Many current Californian wines that mistake concentration for quality

[Brian K Miller]

For me, wine is very much an integral part of mealtime, so I don't get the obsession with over-ripe, flabby, overblown alcoholic wines that smother food from any region or grape. This rules out 95% of what comes from Australia and California. The one region most befuddling to me though, is Napa, and the obsession people have with it. I have tasted some very good wines from Napa, if the winemaker understands how to show restraint. What I don't get is how people are still duped to buy stupidly overpriced, very lush wines that have no nuance other than explosive fruit and oak, because they think they must hold on to the status symbol that "Napa is everything" and they want to impress their friends.

There are a lot of good Napa wineries, but like you say, only the ones that exhibit some restraint. Also, the ones that don't follow the scientific, antiseptic, boring style of wine making (Duckhorn, Luna, come to mind). I actually like "flaws" or "quirks".

As for price, land costs are extraordinary, labor is going up all the time...and the marketing costs...so I don't blame them.

[Brian K Miller]

This may be sacrilege, but I have had very mixed results with Nebbiolo. I've had a couple of Barolos that blow me away, but too many are just "meh" to me. Maybe it's because I simply drank them too young (10 years for some basic bottlings)?

Not too fond of Chilean and Argentine wines. Although contra others I actually liked the Montes Alpha Carmenere I tried the other day! what is worse is when a cult/uber-extracted winemaker (Paul Hobbs) goes down to Argentina...his Cobos Cabernet was almost undrinkable to me due to its overwhelming tannins and extraction.

I share the above vis a vis over-fruity, over-extracted California wines. There are so many good Napa and Sonoma cabernets, though.

To me, though, the worst offender is the "fruity" California Pinot Noir, from whatever region. I actively dislike that cherry cola/cough syrup fruit profile that seems to be the definitive flavor for California pinot noir. I saw some Pinots clocking in at 15.5% alcohol. They tasted more like hot zinfandel.

[Salil]

Lots of stuff I don't connect with.

Pinotage

Bordeaux after the mid 1990s

Many Australian red wines in this millennium

Why people seem to think Carmenere is so good (see 'pinotage' above)

So 'bad wine', in general, Bill? Most of my list would be quite similar to yours, actually.

Most modern Bordeaux is just depressing to drink. There are a handful of producers like Haut Bailly, Haut Brion, LMHB, Pichon Lalande and Canon that I find still make wonderfully elegant and classically styled Bordeaux. But what has happened at estates like Pape Clement since the mid 90s is just sad.

Aussie reds... sigh. The classics like old Henschke, Wendouree, Yarra Yering and Mt. Mary were such great wines. Some of them have just become obnoxiously priced now (I'm looking at you, Henschke), I'd love to have more bottles of Wendouree or a few Mt. Mary Quintets in the cellar, but it's just not happening given availability and price now. And of course, all we can get in the US is the modern, point laden plonk.

[Bill Spohn]

Salil - I am certainly with you on the Aussie descent into the jam pot.

I opened a wine I quite liked last night just to try a first bottle of a sixpack I have. It was the 1997 Fox Creek Reserve Cabernet. I found it to be very nice indeed, without the sweetness in the nose and on palate that typifies modern Australian wines, and some flavour interest and complexity in midpalate, with a nice smooth finish.

I thought to myself that this is the wine I would bring to a blind cabernet tasting because it was a ringer for a Napa Cab made in the old style from a similar vintage. Then I looked up what RP said about it -

"Remarkably civilized, even restrained by the standards of Fox Creek, the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is clearly the product of a lighter vintage. Despite its elegant personality, there is nothing wimpy about this wine. A dark ruby/purple color is followed by an attractive smoky, black currant, and toasty-scented nose. Medium-bodied, with excellent balance, and soft tannin, it should be consumed over the next decade. "

Yup - that's the sort of 'restrained' and 'elegant' cabernet we no longer see from Australia.

[ChaimShraga]

Viognier. But then I hardly think of it as a big name.

[Jenise]

I despise 99.9% of Sauvignon Blanc. I cannot see why anyone would drink them.

LOVE them! But there was a time I couldn't stand them, so there's hope for you.

I'm with J-Lab on viognier. At least, nearly all viogniers except Eric Texier's. If its a viognier made and grown in America, forget it.