When Wine Preference Becomes an Ideology

Twenty years ago, the wines attracting the most attention and the highest scores were often big, powerful reds, loaded with ripe fruit, oak, and alcohol. But tastes have changed. Certainly many critics and sommeliers but also everyday wine drinkers now place greater value on freshness, elegance, and restraint. Of course, the appetite for powerful reds hasn’t disappeared. There are still plenty of enthusiasts for a 15.5% Cabernet or a lavishly ripe Grenache, and producers continue to make such wines successfully. Yet the old assumption that greater concentration means greater quality has lost much of its authority. But when a preference becomes an ideology it damages our ability to think.. I recently had a conversation with an old wine buddy who was ranting about critics who give good scores to ripe, alcoholic wines—Alto Moncayo’s Garnacha (16% ABV) was his example–and then give the same score to an elegant, low alcohol wine from Burgundy. I’ve tasted Moncayo’s wine several times. In…