Does The Color of a Wine Have a Huge Impact on Quality or Age?

Does The Color of a Wine Have a Huge Impact on Quality or Age? – Episode #290

August 9, 2007

A fantastic website I often visit did an interesting article on the color of wine that has gotten a lot of attention on the web so I am here to address it!

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Comments on this episode(182) Leave a comment ›

“Great episode. I love it when you say, “This smells like a 3-year-old…” by Phredd
“One heck of an educationa on colors….but brownish tint means the win…” by Adrian aka AnGkEr
View all 182 ›

Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Domaine Barat Chablis FourneauxChablis
2004 Cascina Morassino Langhe NebbioloNebbiolo d’Alba
2005 Clayhouse Syrah Paso RoblesOther California Syrah/Shiraz
1981 Lopez De Heredia Bosconia Gran ReservaRioja
1996 Clarendon Hills SyrahAustralian Shiraz/Syrah

Links mentioned in todays episode.

182 Responses

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August 12, 2007

Greg S
Gary,

I agree with your comment about nebbiolo grapes/wines. Another overlooked grape and wine that is underappreciated is dolcetto. Some of these are quite delicious.
Greg S
August 11, 2007

SoCal
Interesting Episode!
QOTD: Blue
August 11, 2007

Creed
Gary, I discovered your shows last week and love them! I will be watching from now on.

Was sad to hear the Clayhouse review. About a year ago I started really becoming passionate about wine and the Clayhouse 2003 Petite Sirah is the wine that started it all for me. I’ve not tried the 2005 Syrah though.

QOTD – Burnt Orange
August 11, 2007

Bolgheri
Gary, Thanks for keeping it real…and for giving it up re: New World IS Age worthy. CL
August 11, 2007

Jim in Atlanta
Thanks for the wine education. QOTD – Blue normally (but red for wine)
August 11, 2007

Daniel O
Gary! Loving the education aspect of WLTV Thanks for yet another awesome episode. QOTD: Royal Blue!
August 11, 2007

jeff
QOTD: GREEN
August 11, 2007

Keith L
Will have to search for the Nebbiolo today. Thanks for the intro

Really wanted you to try the 1975 to increase your palate

QOTD: Blue
August 11, 2007

YoungDave
Sweet Ep., big G.

QOTD: I always liked red when I was a wee lad, and now I am always intrigued by the way light hits a red wine, especially deeper reds with ruby or garnet edges.
August 10, 2007

Jon B.
I meangrey to wear
August 10, 2007

Jon B.
Great episode..Qotd to look at green but to wear red. Catching up on episodes on to friday thanks GV and Wltv crew.
August 10, 2007

cosmo108
QOTD: Green!
August 10, 2007

Casey
QOTD: I LOVE color! It’s very difficult for me to pick favorites, but I have to go with pink and orange.
August 10, 2007

desmaic
maybe think about showing the color of the wines by holding the camera above them with a white back drop or a light box setup (only needed with the reds really)…. unfortunatly it is hard to see the true color from the current angle… just a thought…
love the educational angle of the show… i think it helps get people involved who might otherwise feel intimidated by asking questions…
keep it up hardcore….
August 10, 2007

Andrea
ok, stoopid question from a stoopid person (because now I’m confused): if color is not indicative of quality or age, what is its the significance? visual pleasure?

qotd: sunsets and blue
August 10, 2007

Billman
My take: the color differences between ‘different vintages of the same wine,’ or ‘the same wine opened at different ages’ are probably more informative than color differences between unrelated wines.
August 10, 2007

WMiree
The color of a wine has probably misled wine drinkers more than any other characteristic of wine. The lighter shades of Burgundy routinely belie their huge aromatics and staying power of their palate. Certainly the same with Nebbiola based wines. Color does typically accurately gage power and strength in Cabernet for New World wines, but can mislead on Bordeaux. Depth of color can often foretell “over-the-hill” or oxidized wines with white wines, but even here, with dessert white wines, it simply foretells really rich older but fabulous wines. The bottom line is that there is no universal rule about color alone in wine. Any rules are specific to grape type and have to be assessed in conjunction with other factors.

Glad you tried the Clarendon. I have bought a lot of this wine over the years since 1997, and have tasted all of them only around purchase date. They are killer young, but have always given me a sense of an ability to age well, especially compared to many other Australian Shirazes, whose future prospects are totally oblique to me. I was delighted to hear your glowing assessment of an aging vintage of it.
August 10, 2007

AngryToxicologist
QOTD: blue-gray.

Gary: It’s pronounced “Claire-en-den”. You do a far better job than I do pronouncing stuff so BIG hypocrite here.

Day 2 of the Port Request Post-in. Looking forward to a long post run. I’ll wear you out but let’s make it a contest here.

Sorry for the hard time: good show, nice theme.
August 10, 2007

BW
Clayhouse comes from the east side of Paso – very hot & very few quality wines from the east side.
If you want quality from Paso, you have to seek out the west side wines. They are very different. West side gets the marine influence, cooler temps but still big temp. swings, has the unique calcareous (limestone) soil & generates far superior fruit. East side is mostly bulk growers like Meridian. If you haven’t tried Paso wine, don’t let the Clayhouse review turn you off- seek out the west side & you will be happy – all the big scores from the big reviewers (RP, WS, ST, etc) are all west side wines. Personal favorite producers are Villa Creek, L’Adventure & Denner.

So, QOTD …. blue is my favorite
August 10, 2007

Kathleen
Blue. Sky blue, because God Loves The Infantry!
I love you, Lt. Gentile.
Kathleen
August 10, 2007

DirtBag
I once had a wine that was yellow with purple polka dots. True story. My Fav color is Dirt.
August 10, 2007

Susan
QOTD: Pink!!!
August 10, 2007

Susan
Gary-Great Ep!!!Love the color comparison!!!!!!
August 10, 2007

MetalDave
QOTD: Green
August 10, 2007

Orion Slayer
I had a twenty year old wine that had an awesome color at a tasting once. The wine had different flavors than any of the wines I normally drink. The color was very deep yellow and unusual. Color rocks.

QOTD: Yellow.

(It’s hard to play fantasy football if you’re a die hard fan like Gary. Try watching a game where you have players on your fantasy football team against your favorite team!)