I understand where both nsr and sdr are coming from. I think the difference in opinion is a result of the type of fan you are of wines. The casual fan may like one type of wine while a student of wine may prefer another. You can probably find discrpancies like this in any subject area.
For example, a lot of people, including myself, love to watch movies. But not everyone loves to study them. When you poll professional movie critics, they generally regard “Citizen Kane” as the greatest movie of all time. I watched it and at the end of the day, I DIDN’T GET IT. I consider myself a bit more than a casual fan because I do re-watch movies with the director’s commentary on and I do make an effort to understand the nuances of film making. But I still don’t understand “Citizen Kane” …
Another example: An architect friend of mine took a group of us to the Salk Institute to look at the amazing architecture of the building. He went on an on about how cool it was. Everyone else thought is was butt ugly.
So back to wines … I think that most casual wine fans judge a wine by the following qualities (in order of importance):
1) balance of flavor
2) level of smoothness
3) complexity
I think the balance of flavors is probably one of most important quality for a casual wine fan. At the end of the day, you want the wine to “taste good”. The other important quality is the right level of smoothness. There has to be enough of an edge to let you know you’re not drinking grape juice. But a mouth puckering powerhouse would be beyond overkill for most people. The least important factor is probably complexity. But I think people really do appreciate a complex wine, if only sub-consciously.
Students of wine judge a wine on a much greater array of qualities (finish, intensity, mouthfeel, aging potential, etc). I also think students tend to value complexity more and have a wider appreciation for levels of smoothness.
Reviews by Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate are all done by students of wine. Their judging criteria is not the same as a casual fan’s criteria. So they might give 90 points to a big, bold, complex cab that had some deficiencies in flavor balance and smoothness. But a casual fan might try the same wine and just decide that it doesn’t “taste good” or be turned off by the tannins.
I used to wonder why certain winery’s had such a huge fan following and were able to command such high prices. Even if their wines didn’t taste “expensive”, people seemed to love them. After trying enough of them, I realized that these winery’s were great at creating wines for the casual fan (which is most of us). Not huge. Not intense. Not overly complex. Just very well balanced in terms of flavor and smoothness.
If you are a student of wine or would like to be one, then Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate are great resources to help you learn. Their ratings have served me well for many years. If that doesn’t work for you, then going wine tasting or getting recommendations from people with similar tastes as yours is a great way to go.
