This week the papers have reported a description of Marlborough’s Sauvignon Blancs by British wine critique Jane MacQuitty as “evil, watery, grassy wines.”  Various articles also make statements such as “the region’s wine growers are seeing red” and that “this stinging criticism has winemakers across New Zealand worried.”  As the daughter of a winegrower and the wife of a winemaker, I found the latter amusing as both my Dad and hubby hadn’t appeared too worried about MacQuitty’s description … and I’ll tell you why:

Firstly,  wine tasting is highly subjective.    I can remember asking one of our kids if they thought a sip of wine tasted “grassy” and they responded “Dunno, haven’t tried eating grass before.”  I take their point but acknowledge that taste is dependent on smell, hence the grassy description.  I quite like the smell of freshly cut grass.  Is ‘grassy’ an insult?  And how are we supposed to take ‘evil’ – I mean Austin Powers made Dr Evil something funny!  Do we get this year’s wine blessed…exorcised?  But then we don’t want to add water!  I guess Saint Clair will be safe by default .  

Secondly, we should celebrate honest opinion when it comes to wine tasting – if we don’t, such opinions become worthless – of no more value to consumers than celebrity endorsements (don’t get me started!).   Consumers would soon switch off if everyone offering a critique  was obliged to ramble on about how delightful a wine is.  Plenty of wine reviews do this already and it’s such a yawn that MacQuitty’s comments were a breath of fresh air.   We want our customers to tell us the truth, and then we can investigate whether or not it is a widespread complaint and if so, how we can improve the product.    Many in the industry in Marlborough for example have worked very hard this vintage to focus on quality over quantity.   

Thirdly, there actually are some producers whose wine is a bit ‘watery’, but it is cheaper and it meets a market for those who actually want the low cost option.  Watery budget bake beans can still sell beside Watties.  It is great that consumers now know enough about wine to tell the difference and make their choices accordingly.    We are quite happy that the message is getting out to wine drinkers that not all wines are equal!

So please, if you try Fiasco Wine – give us your honest opinion, we  love constructive criticism!