On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:21:50 -0800 (PST), DaleW >
wrote:

>On Feb 24, 2:38*pm, "graham" > wrote:
>> "DaleW" > wrote in message
>>
>> news:14585985.7656.1330041940090.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbai14...> Aussie Grenache?
>>
>> I must apologize, Dale! I didn't expect anyone to read my post as a
>> challenge, although you rose to it and did rather well, as Mark has pointed
>> out.
>>
>> My reason for the post was to illustrate the absolutely ridiculous level to
>> which these descriptions have risen. I think Hugh Johnson once avered that
>> they had become descriptions of fruit salad. There must be a more sensible
>> way, somewhere between RP's and "this is a nice drop o' plonk" that will go
>> well with ........etc., etc.
>> Graham
>
>Oh, I knew what you are aiming for. And totally agree re the extremity
>of the descriptors. But I just found myself wondering which wine,
>and the OTT imagery reminded me of his Oz and CaliRhone notes (to
>wines he adores, and I detest). The redness of the fruit led me to
>Grenache tather than Syrah or Mourvedre.
>On the whole I prefer a well done structuralist note to a
>Baskin31flavors style, though I tend to list fruit impressions
>myself,. But I'm not a pro.
>But saddest thing is if his note has ANY validity, it's another sign
>of the internationalization issue, as this is hard to believe as a
>note of any Rhone of yore
I should note that I recognized the original intent as well, but
sometimes those of us with competitive instincts just can't help
playing "What wine is this?" or any of its flavors (I am currently
addicted to trying to figure out ports of call from photos on a web
site- spending too much time on google earth but having fun>)

The crazy thing is that Parker must have liked this wine (91 points
IIRC) but when you read it just doesn't sound that appealling, sort of
like when you read about the petrol in riesling, yes , you know it is
a good thing, but it doesn't really make the right connection when
reading as opposed to sipping it.