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Showerthought: Detecting volatile acidity flaws has sharpened my critical tasting
I picked up on a persistent nail polish remover scent in several mid-priced Pinot Noirs. This shifted my focus from fruit profiles to production quality markers. What common faults do you prioritize when evaluating value wines?
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bailey.mia7mo ago
During a tasting in Sonoma last year, I encountered several Pinots with that same nail polish note. But I've come to wonder if hyper-focusing on volatile acidity in wines under twenty dollars misses the point. For budget-friendly options, a slight fault might be a trade-off for accessibility, and consumers often prioritize fruit expression over technical perfection. Sure, cooked flavors or excessive Brettanomyces can ruin a bottle, but minor VA might just add complexity in some contexts. The risk is that we become so fault-focused that we forget to appreciate what a wine does well, especially at lower price points. I'd rather drink a slightly flawed but enjoyable wine than a technically correct but boring one.
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jason_fisher7mo ago
Spot on about the technically correct but boring thing.
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reeses127mo ago
Totally. Read a wine blog once that said some flaws give cheap wine its character. Makes sense if it means avoiding boring bottles.
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