It has been a long time since I have been thinking about how your expectations influence your perception of a particular wine.
Is it obvious that when it is cold we look for more full bodied and comforting reds or naked whites, but when it is finally warm we turn to crisp rose wines and refreshing whites. Quite a common sense. On a regular day we can feel a bit stressed, or on contrary way too excite. Simply out, we have different expectations depending what kind of mood we have have at the moment.
I wonder whether it influences how we pick wines and how do we perceive them when drinking. Try a blind tasting experiment, can one bottle of wine taste extraordinary when we feel relaxed and then a bit of a disappointment when we taste it a day later feeling stressed? I think so!
One of the bottles I bought from Vinceremos helped me to illustrate this point. It was a rather rainy evening, so I thought the below bottle of Tempranillo from a hot region of La Mancha will deliver on warmth and sweetness (it will be dry but with some sweeter fruit and some sweet spice).
Finca Fabian Organic Tempranillo 2013.
The producer, Dominio de Punctum, is an Organic estate and winery located at laTierra de Castilla.
They specifically indicate that the grapes, apart from being grown organically,
were night harvested and cold macerated.
The wine shows some cherry and strawberry notes with some pronounced red currants. This combination contributes to the overall feeling of being quite thin, light and very mellow.
Yet as for me, it lacks flavour which, in a way, was sacrificed in order to make it light. It is indeed light, but does it worth the calorie intake? At one hand, I like it being earthy, but it pains me to say that it is simply not deep and exciting enough, so sorry about that! It would be an ‘avoid‘ verdict from me.
Back to the point of your mood and how it matches wine. I was in the mood of some comfort wine (that wonderful fruitiness and sweetness that comes from deep red wines made from organic grapes grown in very warm climates) , and it was simply not it.
This is what I can call an unmet expectation. I wonder, should it be a warm afternoon, would I enjoy it slightly chilled sitting outside and sipping it with a small snack of serrano ham and tomato bread? Most probably!
Share your views on matching wine with your moods! How will your expectations change the way you appreciate the wine?
Finca Fabian Organic Tempranillo 2013.
