Opinions

For the last couple of days my work schedule has been a bit odd. A side-effect of this was that I spent considerable time with some co-workers talking about more or less random topics. As a result of these conversations I've developed a semi-philosophical theory about personality. Sooner or later, most people develop an Opinion about a certain topic. The topic varies wildly; in some cases it's automobiles, in some cases computer languages or electronics, religion, food, drink, clothes, shoes, the American justice system - there are as many items on the list as there are items. When you ask someone about the topic they hold dear, they give you their Opinion, often at great length. It's wise not to disagree since most likely the beliefs in the chosen area are based more on faith than reason. Some few folks may be able to change their Opinion simply based on rational argument but I think this is the rare exception.

A few moments after I developed this fascinating insight into human nature I realized my Opinions are about food and wine, and this is why I write about those topics here. Since these topics are of special interest to me it's necessary to be very careful that I don't treat them irrationally. It would be a shame to simply dismiss an argument (or a wine) because it doesn't fit into my pre-conceived notions of correctness.

In particular, Merlot: I wrote about a couple of Merlots that didn't impress me recently and it's tempting to write off the varietal entirely based on that. If I did that, however, I would suddenly have an Opinion about Merlot that is dangerously closed-minded. That's something I don't want to do. Accordingly I tried yet another Merlot in an effort to rid myself of the notion that it's kind of boring.

The 2002 Esterlina Cole Ranch Merlot is a merlot with a high C note thrown in the mix. It's higher in acidity and with more fruit flavor than the Ceja I recently tried. I'm not entirely certain that the result is a better wine, but it's one that I enjoyed a bit more. And, unfortunately, it still tastes mushy and without much character to me. All this in spite of the fact that I really enjoy Esterlina's products. Regrettably my Merlot opinion will remain for a bit longer.

I also tried to branch out a bit with a French wine picked up a few months ago from Whole Foods Market. The $18 2003 Château Graves de Pez Saint-Estèphe was dark and murky to me with overwhelming earthy and mushroom flavor. I thought it might be a bit corked, though I'm not sure how much of that is intentional. I didn't like this one very much at all. It's rather timely that I had this since NapaWonk sent me a great article about Bordeaux from the San Francisco Chronicle. Based on what I read there I intend to pick up a couple of bottles in the $20-30 range to see if there really are decent young wines available. I've been told, and in general I agree, that real Bordeaux takes about 10 years to mature (the newspaper article also mentions this). This makes me very reluctant to actually buy any good French wine. 10 years is a very, very long time for something to sit around in your house, especially if you don't have controlled temperature storage.

Two more items of note. I'm thinking about attending the 2006 Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival which is the weekend of the 24th. It seems a reasonable bargain ($45 per day for tasting). I was not terribly thrilled with the list of participants but that may be just my ignorance. Lastly, I finished my under $10 tastings with the 2004 Black Opal Shiraz. It was adequate and tasted a lot like all the other < $10 Shiraz I've tried. Not recommended.