“Cellar Notes” on WYPR: Great programming, but not always great advice!

As a PhD student, I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer that is attached to electrophysiology equipment, a big microscope equipped with a CCD camera, and a giant laser used to stimulate neurons in rat brain tissue. I spend hours and hours recording electrical activity of neurons with the hope that I’ll positive data so I can graduate some time before the 2005 Bordeaux’s are at their peak (in the next 20-40 years). The advantage to my day is that I can listen to music, podcasts, and watch videos while my experiments are running. Most of the day, though, I am just simply listening to National Public Radio (NPR) trying to keep up on the news, politics and other things going on in Baltimore and the rest of the world.

I think it’s fair to say that I’m slightly addicted to NPR. I listen at all hours of the day and night and home. I am really impressed with our local NPR station (WYPR in Baltimore). One program I really enjoy is a short (5 minutes or so) segment called Cellar Notes. Each day around 5:30 PM Al Spoler and Hugh Sisson discuss wine topics ranging from wine pairing advice and wine events, to recently to the new up and coming varietal.I really enjoy and appreciate the programming, and try to catch it at least a few times a week. I think it’s a great way to get people excited about wines and is very informative and well produced.

In the last few weeks though, two comments were made that I completely disagree with. One, involving American Pinot Noir versus those of Burgundy. The second, being a comment on foods that go better with beer (rather than wine).

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Wine ratings and tasting notes: Perspectives and context

A wine by any other price will smell even sweeter? Eric Asimov, writer and wine blogger for the New York Times, wrote a piece this week (”Wine’s Pleasures: Are they all in your head?”) outlining the variables that contribute to enjoying a wine, as well as the functionality and utility of tasting notes. He addressed the issue that has been the focus of recent research; that many people like or dislike a wine based on price or rating, rather than actual taste. Overall, Asimov’s article is a good read, summarizing a few recent studies that have the same basic conclusion: many people (non experts) seem to prefer less expensive wines.

In his article, Asimov stated that he feels that “consumers face an impenetrable swamp of winespeak.” At this point, he referenced a tasting note written by Wine Spectator’s James Molesworth: “Dark and rich, with lots of fig bread, mocha, ganache, prune and loam notes. Stays fine-grained on the finish, with lingering sage and toast hints.” (Moleworth responded in his blog, acknowledging Asimov’s professionalism yet pointing out that Asimov himself often uses similar writing descriptors when evaluating a wine. Molesworth also contends that as long as the reader understands the terms, they are quite useful). This got me to thinking: have tasting notes gone too far? Are they no longer useful and if anything, an antagonist in the “wine can be informal and fun” movement? I don’t think this is the case at all. Read more