4 ms·

There is a growing trend for amphora/qvevri/ceramic aged wines. Would be interesting to compare. Also wines at least partially aged in concrete tanks. Many che

There is a growing trend for amphora/qvevri/ceramic aged wines. Would be interesting to compare. Also wines at least partially aged in concrete tanks. Many cheap wines are in fact oaked to hell, usually in the form of chips, extracts, etc. because the oak flavour can mask faults or give character to mediocre wines. I use oak shavings in my wine (from grapes from my vineyard) because barrels are a pain to work with. (People also don't realize how much of the wine sold in stores at even medium price tiers is flavoured and homogenized with the addition of concentrates and other additions. One of the big ones is "MegaPurple(tm)", a colouring and flavouring agent made from Rubired grapes, that is responsible for a lot of the jammy fruity "new world" flavours that people seem to think is representative of "Aussie Shiraz" or "Ripe Zinfandel" or whatever their preference is. It's really just a concentrated grape extract. And extremely popular, and doesn't need to be labelled on the wine because it's made from grapes. It's one way producers can get consistent product year over year.) https://vinepair.com/articles/what-is-mega-purple-and-what-is-it-doing-in-my-wine/ https://vinepair.com/articles/what-is-mega-purple-and-what-i...

rpmisms 3y ago
I'd happily believe that the oldest process is likely the ideal, especially combined with my anecdotal evidence that Georgian wine is wonderful stuff, and does not give me a hint of a headache.
- cmrdporcupine 3y ago
  Most Georgian wines are not natural or qvevri wines, the vast majority of the production there is stainless steel tank produced wine + barrel aging (for reds) like anywhere else. The Qvevri wines I've had have always been... interesting. But they're not consistently good. I wish I had a Qvevri of my own to make wine in. But it'd be difficult in this cold temperate climate where the ground freezes. They'd have to be in a heated shop or buried 3-4 feet deep.
jghn 3y ago
This is a big part of why I've shifted to medium to not-quite-high end natural wines, in particular old world. I always found the mass market wines to be way too oaked and/or sweet for my tastes, and it'd give me headaches. The really nice stuff was too much $$ for me to consume at any regular interval. Stumbled across this niche and it was an epiphany. Obviously not a universal truth but in general I find the stuff I buy now to both taste much better to my palate and not give me headaches. Unless I consume *way* too much, and that's on me.
- cmrdporcupine 3y ago
  Yeah, I just make my own wines these days (from my own home grown grapes). Because while the "quality" is not the same, it's a consistently more "authentic" product and I know everything about it and can appreciate it as my own product; and it's "cheap" (sort of), it's fun.

rpmisms 3y ago

I'd happily believe that the oldest process is likely the ideal, especially combined with my anecdotal evidence that Georgian wine is wonderful stuff, and does not give me a hint of a headache.

cmrdporcupine 3y ago
Most Georgian wines are not natural or qvevri wines, the vast majority of the production there is stainless steel tank produced wine + barrel aging (for reds) like anywhere else. The Qvevri wines I've had have always been... interesting. But they're not consistently good. I wish I had a Qvevri of my own to make wine in. But it'd be difficult in this cold temperate climate where the ground freezes. They'd have to be in a heated shop or buried 3-4 feet deep.

jghn 3y ago

This is a big part of why I've shifted to medium to not-quite-high end natural wines, in particular old world. I always found the mass market wines to be way too oaked and/or sweet for my tastes, and it'd give me headaches. The really nice stuff was too much $$ for me to consume at any regular interval. Stumbled across this niche and it was an epiphany. Obviously not a universal truth but in general I find the stuff I buy now to both taste much better to my palate and not give me headaches. Unless I consume *way* too much, and that's on me.

cmrdporcupine 3y ago
Yeah, I just make my own wines these days (from my own home grown grapes). Because while the "quality" is not the same, it's a consistently more "authentic" product and I know everything about it and can appreciate it as my own product; and it's "cheap" (sort of), it's fun.