Landenistim's Profile
Wine Pairing and Wine Criticism is "Unchallenged Bunk"
Too frickin' funny. Actually a great illustration of the misinterpretations that are inevitable with the mind processing sensory information!
Wine Pairing and Wine Criticism is "Unchallenged Bunk"
Jason - again, you may easily be Hypersensative and NOT taste the thiurea strips. I am the one that supplied Pooch with it. That is what I am trying to say - " at least according that that stuff that Pooch put on my tongue; ergo, I am a TOLERANT taster -" is not necessarily so. the other possibility is that you ARE a tolerant taster (in general) and have a specific hypersensitivity to alcohol.
Which model Altecs - the timbre of a classic Altec compression horn can be very distincly identified with training! Sorry - audio geek as well.
And yes - very probably the Emperor is Tolerant, making him the perfect advocate for other Tolerant tasters. Wait 'til you see what we are working on with a Cornell researcher. D'mon by for lunch any time you are in Napa.
Wine Pairing and Wine Criticism is "Unchallenged Bunk"
Jason - the 'super-taster' (PROP sensitivity) is but a very small part of the many things we take into account to determine a person's overall sensitivity quotient. If you go to TasteSQ.com the Hypersenstitive tongue pictured on the home page is incapable of sensing PROP. We take a number of things into account but you can have taste buds on top of your taste buds and still have selective 'blind' spots. And no - if no one 'detects' the flaw, how could it be? :-) BTW, VERY interesting things we have learned about neural 'conditioning' and how a group of winemakers can develop a 'house palate' and expecially how distinct 'flaws' can come to be totally undectable for a group of highly trained experts!
PolarBear -
Really great question and there are aesthetic, moral, social responsibility and sensitivity issues that come into play in any discussions about alcohol levels. In the case of Darrel's decision - you would need to ask him and I will see if I can find out next time I talk with him.
Hypersensitive tasters experience high alcohol as hot, burning and increases the bitterness they are already way more sensitive to. A Tolerant taster experiences high alcohol as sweet. You can start to see why there are such dramtically different points of view from a sensory expereince standpoint - literally opposite for two different people swamiofumami.blogspot.com for 'the great Cabernet debate if you want a really in-depth look ath Steve Heiman (never been better) and Dan Berger (never been worse).
Darrel is towards the Tolerant end of the scale, and according to my records (and a big fan of our new Consumer Wine Awards program by the way). This would lead me to beleive his issue is more with 'enough is enough.' combined with an aesthetic preference for wines of more delicacy and finess than power.
Intersting story - Dan Berger, Hypersensitive taster, claims that his Sauvignon Blanc epiphany was with a Montevina wine made by Cary Gott 'back when I was young'. I think it was a 1978 - and remember the wine very well (if not the exact vintage) because it was 16% alcohol!!! The wine had been recommended to Dan by.... Darrel Corti.
Intersting because 1. Dan is VERY sensitive to high alcohol and 2. Darrel would never stock that wine today.
Two wonderful and brilliant men and a fun story. And a great look at why there is still so much to explore and learn.
Wine Pairing and Wine Criticism is "Unchallenged Bunk"
In the past two events leading up to this year's Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi we conducted sensitivity assessments of the judges, including people like Dan Berger, Dr. Richard Peterson, Darrel Corti, Jim Lapsley and Traci Dutton. The Hypersensitive judges, determined by a combination of wine and food preferences and looking at their tongues under magnification, flagged 94% of the wines that were deemed 'flawed' while the Tolerant tasters reported 0 wine flaws. This is one of the very important aspects of the science we are applying to the different experiences, and often radical differences in opinions, that show up over and over in wine ratings, competitions and with wine and food combinations.
No such thing as a 'so-so' palate, just vastly different. And while there are differences in chemistry it is even more importantly, and dramatically, differences in sensory physiology. And THEN comes the neurology...
Tim Hanni MW - The Wine Antisnob in the WSJ
Just launched the wine list at Michel Richard's new Citrus at Social in Hollywood. The Sommelier's love the new tool and the easy amnner in which they can quickly and accurately present really esoteric wines to their clientele.
Tim Hanni MW - The Wine Antisnob in the WSJ
Approximately 4 pounds of a 150 pound human is glutamate so, if prepared correctly, the umami taste would exist in humans. If you were to wrap one in bacon or 'hang' the human you would increase the deliciousness of said human. :-)
