When you say, "This wine is undrinkable..."

WINE TALK
41

Should we replace ‘undrinkable’ with ‘potable’? [tumbleweed.gif]

42

For me, very few wines go straight from my glass to the sink after tasting it. Even if I really don’t care for the wine I will generally finish my glass and move on to something else. Apart from an obvious flaw however, about the only thing that will automatically cause me to invert the bottle over the drain is when I detect chemically manufactured fruit. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

43

+1

44

Seems like people want comments to distinguish between “flawed” and “terrible”, which in some cases may not be possible. At a recent dinner I literally spit a taste of a wine back into the glass because it was so bad. I’m not sure I can accurately explain what particular flaw it had, but I found it quite literally undrinkable :slight_smile:

45

I had a bottle neck shatter on opening sending shards of glass into the wine. That’s probably the only wine I’ve ever had that was truly undrinkable. But, like others here, I have had wines so badly flawed that I have described them as undrinkable - usually that’s absurdly high TCA. I can’t recall ever describing a wine as undrinkable simply for being poorly made or not to my taste. I find that irritating, too.

46

Haha! “While this Meiomi is potable, it’s undrinkable.”

47

Meomi is not good but it is not undrinkable by any stretch. My personal rating system is based on whether I would hide the glass behind a potted plant if I were given that wine at a wedding. That’s also very close to my definition of undrinkable. If I group ratings into 5 point ranges, these are my low end of the spectrum ratings.

Below 50: The aroma coming out of the glass is so bad that I refuse to even take a taste.
50-54: It’s so bad I involuntarily spit it out as soon as the taste sensations reach my brain.
55-59: I was able to hold it in my mouth long enough to voluntarily spit it back into the glass or a spit bucket
60-64: It’s so bad I can swallow it but look for a potted plant to hide the glass behind because I do not want to embarrass the bride and groom
65-69: I can force myself to finish the glass I have in my hand but then immediately switch to a non-wine beverage.
70-74: Average wine for a rubber chicken dinner meal. Ask the bartender or waiter to look at the bottle to make sure I never buy it.

48

Undrinkable, to me, would be that the wine is more than just bad tasting to me. There are many wines that I have had that i think are simply lousy, and I don’t want to, nor will I continue to drink what I have left in front of me (although, as you know, there are circumstances when even wine that sucks simply must be consumed [cheers.gif]). These fall under my “No thanks, that sucks” categorization. Different than “undrinkable”.

Undrinkable wines are simply so egregiously awful that I think nobody should drink them and I pour it down the drain no matter what and open something else.

Flawed is another category.

49

Brandon - are you talking about tasting notes? I rarely post them but will keep my own records. But I agree with the comments above. For me, Meiomi is most assuredly undrinkable. It’s not flawed. It’s specifically made to taste like shit. Same with that Mer Soleil.

50

There are two kinds of undrinkable for me. One is a wine that has turned so bad that I cannot even swallow it. The other is a wine that is inherently awful to me, but one that maybe I could get down, say, if I were stranded on an island. Typically, a wine that Alfert would hate, and other people would love. HAHA. Sometimes I describe the second type, “…hey, it won’t kill you!”

51

I move on, open something else, leave it on counter, maybe taste it next day. Life is too short to fight thru something I don’t enjoy.

52

Went to TJs today. Evidence of oversupply? They’ve lowered the price of 2 Buck Chuck back to 2 Bucks. After years at $3. Haven’t had it in years…not too eager to resume.

Just interesting…

53

A dozen years or so ago, before Trader Joe’s came to New York City, someone in by brown-bag group, where we taste completely blind, brought a pair of wines. One was pretty decent, the other sucked. The first was a Two Buck Chuck merlot; the second was a cabernet. I have to say, we were pretty shocked at the quality of the merlot. But I guess it depends on which month’s lot you get. I sure wouldn’t count on getting a good bottle.

54

I’ve heard it used to be decent/drinkable. Something like they used to buy over supply of decent grapes then once it caught on they had to increase production so the quality has gone way down. I don’t put any weight in that as people today think it’s drinkable but the couple of times I’ve tasted I’ve thought it was terrible.

55

I equate “undrinkable” with most wines at grad school functions. They’re so bad that I have actually thrown them out in favor of soda and sparkling water.

56

If it’s undrinkable it gets poured down the drain.

57

Circling back here, I think the concept of folks saying ‘undrinkable’ to something they simply do not like is a ‘challenge’ because this comes down to subjective ‘likes and dislikes’. As I stated early on, we’ve all seen notes of wines being ‘undrinkable’ without an explanation and to me that’s a real ‘challenge’. I simply want to better understand why a wine is truly not able to be consumed. I get it if you don’t like it - but that is not the same as ‘undrinkable’. And for those of you who say Meiomi or The Prisoner or Mer Soleil is ‘undrinkable’, you make those who really enjoy these wines feel ‘wrong’ and to me, that’s wrong . . .

Just my $.02 - and to stir things up here once again.

Cheers.

58

But, a wine can be revoltingly undrinkable to one person, and just fine to others. That’s the nature of wine. I see that all the time with our blind tasting flights. On reveal, when we talk about the wines, no one is apologizing for finding a wine disgusting that “everyone else” likes. We can discuss why, but it is what it is. They aren’t wrong, and shouldn’t be made to feel self-conscious about it.

Useless TNs are useless. They’re in the mix. Saying a wine is “undrinkable” without explanation is simply useless, not a “challenge”.

59

Mer Soleil Chard is very drinkable in a pinch…when I say undrinkable, it’s for me only. I frankly don’t care what others like as long as they are drinking wine instead of cider, seltzer, malt beverages or beer.

60

Agreed and i get the implication that when many say this, it is their opinion. That said, so many state it in such a way that if someone else actually drinks and enjoys said wine, they must just not ‘get it’ . . . and as you said, as long as they are drinking wine . . .

Cheers