Somm 3

WINE TALK
41

A big flaw in the Pinot blind tasting was the use of 2015s for the Burgundy wines, which can come across rather ripe and concentrated right now. It was doubly odd since they used 2014s for (at least some of) the American wines.

Another takeaway was the same as the Judgement of Paris: The more accessible, ready-to-drink wines won.

42

In case you want to recreate the pinot tasting, this will start you on your way [wink.gif]
https://www.vervewine.com/products/6333/variants/7006/day-3-best-of-somm-iii-gift-pack-per-gift-pack?utm_campaign=Holiday%202018%20-%2012%20Days%20of%20Gifting&utm_content=80686165&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-2972275445

43

I saw that too. And Brian McClintic’s Viticole wine club was also offering the winning Pinot as well as part of a pack. Trying to not be skeptical but… [whistle.gif]

44

I doubt the tastings were rigged. I can sense how Blooms field could be mistaken for a burgundy. I tasted the 2014 over a year back and it was crunchy red fruit with a silky texture, but lacked depth (its 7yr old wines). Served it for last thanksgiving and everyone liked it. Compared to 2015 red burgs. Blooms field will be easily approachable and can see how the Brits favored this.

It’s not surprising the SOMMs are trying to offer the wine given the buzz.

45

I cannot for the life of me imagine Pascaline being part of a rigged tasting. Same for Aldo.

46

Honestly, I find the Somm movies pretty cheesy, but that is also why I like them – finally, a bunch of people who overvalue wine to the same ridiculous degree I do! This one was perhaps the cheesiest and most self-important of them all. The Judgement of Paris? MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE MOON LANDING! Fred Dame and Jancis Robinson? THE NEWTON AND EINSTEIN OF OUR TIME! Bunch of people sitting down to sip some wine? LISTEN TO THE OPERATIC MUSIC SWELL! I wish I had the Somm crew to film my wine club and tastings! Anyway, it was fun and worth renting.

I did wonder if that Fred Dame tasting of the '95 Guigal Ampuis was, well, carefully curated…not in the sense of actual lying, but in the sense that there could have been many, many less successful blind tastings left on the cutting room floor before that one was chosen. When he was tasting that final lineup of Pinots, probably a better representation of a random tasting he would do, he appeared no better than a “regular” expert in naming the wines. He even seemed to guess that one was from Otago. I really doubt any human truly has the magic tasting powers to reliably name vintages and the like.

47

Of course, the most fun and cheesy wine move ever is “Bottle Shock”. Alan Rickman was awesome.

48

Not implying the tasting was rigged at all. Just pointing out it how it looks to have the people involved in the tasting now selling the exclusive wine that won the tasting.

49

Brian McClintic was not part of the tasting.

50

The issue is not that the tastings were rigged, it is that the wines were strangely selected.
The tasting was a little like having a beauty pageant for only moderately attractive people, say 5 to 7 out of 10, but not allowing really “beautiful” people compete.

51

Have you ever had a Bachelet Corbeaux?

52

Can’t say I have!

53

Watched it last night. Both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Looking forward to Somm 4

54

(SPOILER if haven’t seen the movie)



Except that Jancis, Fred and Spurrier enjoyed all of the pinots and each picked a different one as their fave…so beauty is in the eye of the beholder

55

It’s not a 5-7 on a 1-10 scale…just sayin.

56

I liked the movie; it was very different than the others but I liked it more than 2. For those of you complaining about the lack of grand cru, how well do you think a 15 grand cru would’ve done in the blind tasting? Honestly he should’ve used the Angerville Volnay 1er or village and a bachelet village.

57

So I finally watched this. I loved Somm because it had an engaging story that had an obvious direction, and I felt like even though 2 eschewed that, the way it was set up it didn’t need it. this third one seems to lack some direction though. The way I described it to someone was like there were 2 or 3 different ideas for what Somm III should be, and they did each of them halfway instead of just picking one. it ended up being a little disjointed because of that and the final blind tasting tried to rectify this and bring it all together but it didn’t seem to.

There is a story that already wrote itself in the Somm community this year that has a great arc and tons of intrigue in the MS testing. That’s what I’d make a Somm 4 about.

I still liked watching it, but the original is still the best.

58

It just seems incredibly disingenuous, the opposite of what a Somm is supposed to be to those less educated about wine.

This is exactly where I think this goes over the line for most wine folks ITB or very much “in the know” if not ITB, Somm3 ends up just being a commercial and little to do with being a Somm. We know the west coast guys or those that worked there for a while in this film guys are friends and collaborate together. The roots go way back to most characters having worked closely together in the past at the same establishments.

In the end it just feels like a huge conflict of interest. And by all means, anyone is certainly allowed to do this or whatever means of promotion they want. It’s not like the wines suck.

Caveat: I loved Somm, and really liked Somm 2, the cinematography and shooting (esp #2) alone is amazing and I suggest anyone that has the ability to do so watch BOTH with the director and actors dialogue/narrative.

59

Well they’ve done a good job bc that domaine de la Côte wine isn’t available anywhere now.

60

Tells you how much of the industry is marketing and hype driven…

I bought a few last year after a tasting session, perhaps I should offload them.