Ep 049: Drink or Sink? (What makes a wine bad?)

We had so many topics to banter about before we got to the meat of the show — we talked about some wine flicks we recently saw, how Mad Menmay have stepped on Wine For Normal People’s toes, and my stance on the recent CostCo wine buyer interview with MSNBC that caused a little stir among blog readers/Facebook followers. After shoutouts (with a very special birthday wish for Scott Hoynoski — a fabulous listener), we get to the main topic — what is my definition of “sink” when I do the “Drink or Sink?” portion of my wine reviews…aka, what makes a wine bad. And by bad, we’re talking about wines that are not made well, not ones we don’t like because of personal preferences. We talk about the concept of balance and the three main tenets: tannin, acid, and alcohol and how each can affect the mix. Oak, fruit, and sugar are covered and how they can mess up balance or contribute to it. The grape of the week is… [...]