Magnification, I thought. As an arbitration wine expert, I had solved a dispute over the value of two beautiful Bordeaux, apparently to everyone's dissatisfaction, or so it would have appeared...
The case, like so many, came down to a matter of perception - and to the confusion that has dogged one grape in particular. Say "Syrah" and "Sirah" aloud and they sound identical, yet Syrah (the noble Rhône grape behind the great Shiraz of Australia) and Petite Sirah are not the same variety at all. Love, as they say, is blind - and so, too often, is the palate.
The remedy is the one I recommend for every dispute that crosses my desk: taste blind, taste attentively, and let the wine speak before the label does. You may be surprised how often the bottle you would have overlooked turns out to be the one worth arguing over.
Originally published in View AZ Highlife Magazine, Spring 2008.