We have become thrill-seeking eaters when it comes to food and wine. As our foods become more and more saturated with fats, sugars and salts (which mask the underlying flavours) we need more and more flavour enhancers or flavour substitutes to balance these and make our food taste like something.
We are all familiar with the black pepper-wielding waitress, we usually accept her offer – but does the food really need it? Have you tasted it before you nod in acquiescence? Same with salt, with chilli sauce (or Tabasco on oysters), wasabi, mustard sauce, dressings. Our plates are now accustomed to more and more salt, sugar, fat, spice – and wine is no exception as the residual sugar levels on so-called “dry” wines (wines with almost no sugar left) rise and rise.
It used to be that a wine called “dry” had to measure less than 3g/l sugar, now this has increased to less than 5g/l. At this level the sweetness is definitely perceptible, but less so to palates grown used to global sweetness in all foods. Wines that are high in alcohol also leave an impression of sweetness in the mouth and as these wines become our standard experience, we turn away from or don’t recognise more nuanced flavours.
In fact, the range of palate sensations that are associated with bitterness (which add complexity to wine) are now often treated with suspicion. We expect a wine to offer a generous, round and complete flavour; we like it if the wine is “easy” and “smooth”. While I am not denying that smooth is pleasant, we must be aware that we may be closing the door on wines with individual character, even if they are not completely easy. Consider for example how often the “smooth” wines are also refreshing?
Ironically, as the sugar level in wine is creeping up, many drinkers have turned away from the wines styles of “off-dry” and “semi-sweet”, not to mention how the full-sweet styles struggle to sell. It seems that we don’t want to be associated with what are considered “beginner” wines, yet we also don’t want our wines to be too challenging. Our palates are dumbing down, but our self-perceptions are becoming loftier.
Back label and wine list descriptions often hide the wine’s sweetness, it lurks in terms like “fruity” and “ripe”. Often it’s not flagged at all. My initial enjoyment of a recent bottle of Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc 2005 was marred by its sweetness which became more and more cloying – had the wine list indicated it was an off-dry wine at over 8g/l sugar, I wouldn’t have ordered it as a refresher.
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