Caveat Emptor
Caveat emptor: let the buyer beware. That has suddenly become the watchword in the world of wines. There are many strange things happening out there and we thought that this would be a good time to bring our readers up to date.
Strange thing #1: While doing our weekly shopping we came across a shelf filled with some very good wines at a very good price, $22 per bottle, when $33 was the going price. The wines were Louis Jadot Meursault; a very good wine from a very fine producer. But, and there always is a but, the vintage was 1996. Now, 1996 was an excellent year in France, nine years ago. The question is what about today? For the finest French white burgundies, ten years, under perfect storage conditions, i.e. cool, dark, vibration free, and on its side is considered ideal storage conditions. This will allow a white wine to age slowly and extend its life to about ten years but only if it was an exceptional vintage. Under less than perfect conditions, a very good white wine will live for only about 4 years and then decline.
There can be very little doubt that the wines in those bottles are way past their prime and maybe even totally undrinkable. What we will say in their defense is that the wines were still fairly light and look like they had not begun to oxidize.
The capper of the sale was that there was a sign that read “No Refunds”. That should be enough to tell a buyer that something was amiss. The good buy of a fine wine from a reputable producer at an exceptional price should raise some questions in the buyers mind. Caveat emptor.
Strange thing #2: As you can imagine, this situation brings another one to mind. Last year, in August we ran across a wooden barrel in a supermarket just filled to the top with bottles of the 2003 vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine of the years vintage. It is a simple, quickly made wine that is guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of all who drink it: as long as they drink it within six weeks of its release date which is set by French law as 12:01 AM of the third Thursday in November. Because it is a quickly made wine, it will stay fresh, and freshness is the secret, for only about six weeks. After that the downhill ride is rapid. Those wines in August of the following year were dead; just plain dead. There was nothing left of what once was a fun wine. Caveat emptor.
Strange thing #3: We have looked at a few problems from the past; we now look into the future. The 2004 vintage in California was not an auspicious one. A near perfect spring was followed by a hot summer and a hot fall. What does that all mean? When the summer is hot, the grapes ripen rapidly and do not achieve the fullness of flavor that slow ripening endows. It also results in high sugar and low acid. It is the custom to pick grapes grown under these conditions at night. When it is dark, some of the sugars recede from the grapes and return to the stem. Even with these methods, the grapes achieved ripeness too fast and the sugar was high. A low acid level can be overcome by the addition of fruit acids to the fermenting grape juice; this is permitted under the law. The acids that are added are not the same complex fruit acids that are produced by the grapes and thus can adversely effect the final product. As far as the high sugar is concerned, the grapes are usually fermented to dryness which in this case will result in a higher alcohol content than normal. All of this is not conducive to fine wines.
So what wine do you choose from the 2004 vintage? Check with your local wine columnists and/or the internet for information on the good, the bad and the ugly. If you purchase your wines from a wine shop, ask the clerk, but remember, at all times, caveat emptor.
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