Welches (I tried, but...)

[bsassy2]

Some of our favorite wines have been made from concord grapes.

 

[dralarms]

Say what you must (Johnt) but we know the truth. welches is not (of course) the best wine ingredient our there but those of us that have figured out how to make a mighty tasty wine really enjoy it.

One of the best (local) wines around here was made by Strikers Premium Winery, could not keep the stuff on the shelf, and when he shut down he gave me his recipe and it turns out that it was a concord wine. Maybe not made with welches but was the same breed and pedigree, and I have personally spent many hour experimenting to figure out just what made his so good. I will say that mine now is very close to his and anyone who used to drink his and have tasted mine say it is very similar and very good.

That being said, my apple wine is (as a very good friend said) "off the hook"

 

[JohnT]

Sorry Dr, and you are right. It is a matter of taste and I am not saying that my taste is any better than yours...

That being said, I was addressing a man from Australia. His country has a fine tradition of making wines and many are considered world class and I am rather sure that this man has never tasted concord grapes. With all of the talk about Welch's, I simply wanted to be realistic. You simply can not make a world class wine (like a cabernet or merlot) out of Welch's grape juice. The most you can hope for, with effort, is a good concord wine.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking a good concord wine. If that is your expectation and goal, all is good.

All I was trying to do is set the right expectation for anyone that has never tasted concord wine. I hope no one takes any offense.

 

[dralarms]

Oh John, you know part of my comment is picking on you about Welches. And yes I agree it's not a "world class" wine.

 

[wineforfun]

That brings up an interesting thought.
"World Class"
Who says what is World Class and what isn't? Maybe concord wine is World Class and the merlots, cabs, etc. are of lesser quality.
Someone, someday, somewhere made the decision that one was better than the other................in their opinion.

It is like with most things in life, we have been "trained" to believe certain things are "better" than others.

 

[ceeaton]

In my book "Wife likes it" equals "World Class". Using cheap ingredients to make drinkable wine has exceeded my expectations, so I consider it World Class wine.

 

[JohnT]

One point I'll make is this....

Concord grapes were developed only 150 years ago and mostly for it's ability to grow in the northeast climate and terrior. The difficulty was finding a grape that could do this but yet still have a taste that was bearable. Its foxy taste is a mile away and distinctive from that of world class European grapes.

 

[wineforfun]

Its foxy taste is a mile away and distinctive from that of world class European grapes.

Again, that is one opinion. There may be others that view the European grapes not as inviting as the Concord.

It is all relative to what your likes and dislikes are. Just because so and so states that "xyz" is the best or most sophisticated, doesn't make it so. That is their opinion.
It would be similar to stating that a gourmet burger has much more depth and character than a plain old grilled burger made at home. For me, and I only speak for myself, I will take the homemade burger anyday, yet, the "viewpoint" is that it isn't supposed to be as good.

Just my .02............ok, maybe .10.

 

[JohnT]

I hear you. What I mean by "world class" is "grapes used around the world". Concord does not fit into this category.

 

[wineforfun]

What I mean by "world class" is "grapes used around the world".

Now that makes perfect sense.

 

[wineinmd]

That's a different use of the term than I've ever heard. Generally a term preceding "class" indicates its quality, and not its usage or availability. 1st class cabin, 2nd class citizen, etc., with the general understanding that world class is the best of the best. Just about every definition I've found is similar to the one given by Merriam-Webster, which says "being of the highest caliber in the world."

I wonder what class Concord grapes are. American class?

 

[JohnT]

That's a different use of the term than I've ever heard. Generally a term preceding "class" indicates its quality, and not its usage or availability. 1st class cabin, 2nd class citizen, etc., with the general understanding that world class is the best of the best. Just about every definition I've found is similar to the one given by Merriam-Webster, which says "being of the highest caliber in the world."

I wonder what class Concord grapes are. American class?

Ok, so you caught me. Man, just try to save some feelings around here and you get pounced on.

 

[wineinmd]

I wasn't trying to pounce on anyone. It's OK to have strong feelings on a topic and share those feelings, as long as they are presented in a civil manner, which I've always seen here. There's no need to backtrack when handled that way. If everyone agreed all the time, things would be pretty dull.

Own those differences in opinion!

 

[wpt-me]

I just bottled 1 1/2 gal of the white grape/peach and thought
it was quite tasty at 5 months old.

Bill

 

[joeswine]

world class????

just my thoughts, world class is a broad statement in most cases, but as far as wine definitions go the main adjective is to describe most all northern grape varieties as{FOXY} and not much more, you usually don't equate them with the general descriptive of let say a merlot or a cab, do you? I think that's more on the line of what JOHNT was stating .

 

[CoastalCowboy]

Welches has three characteristics that make it a great base for a noob like me: 1) it's cheap 2) it's readily available and 3) it's consistent.

 

[JohnT]

Welches has three characteristics that make it a great base for a noob like me: 1) it's cheap 2) it's readily available and 3) it's consistent.

So is koolaid and vodka.

 

[CoastalCowboy]

Then again koolaid and vodka isn't wine is it?

 

[JohnT]

Then again koolaid and vodka isn't wine is it?

If I were a mean person, I would say something like "Some can argue that neither is Welch's". But, I am not a mean person so I will not say that.

 

[sour_grapes]

If I were a mean person, I would say something like "Some can argue that neither is Welch's". But, I am not a mean person so I will not say that.

I gave this a "like" if only to salute the proper use of the subjunctive mood!