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Casting my mind back over a couple of years in this community I think I’ve seen negativity expressed, to various degrees, about:
(NZ) SB
Cabernet Sauvignon
Chardonnay
Riesling
Rioja (Tempranillo?)
Pinot Noir.
Possibly some other less common grapes have had their critics too.
But never, that I can remember, about Merlot, Viognier, Malbec, Zinfandel. Surely, with such common grape varieties, somebody must dislike them too?
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Oh yeah. It’s just that those grapes aren’t really on the agenda at all 
No point in dissing what no one really likes, is there? Though i guess plenty of non wine geeks must like Argentine Malbec 
PS Except for the rare pleasure of a Ridge Zin or the sadly forgotten one of a Condrieu (way too expensive for me these days), of course.
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I think no-one drinks it any more (Sideways etc) so there’s nothing to complain about…personally I live for Merlot…
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Well, the topic seems to have drifted somewhat (no more polls, I promise)
In case anyone wanted to see the judging conditions / criteria, I clipped this, link here
This old topic…
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I know what you mean. Good Merlot can be exceptional. Sadly there is a lot of very dull Merlot produced too (though that is true of quite a few grape varieties).
I think that was a scouting expedition when jancisrobinson.com were revamping their own community forum
A sarcasm badge?! 
Not sure I like the sound of that!
And on the topic of the Marlborough SB, I can understand the points on here suggesting that you could tell a Marlborough SB just by smelling, but that means, if you had any preconceptions, you perhaps wouldn’t score it so highly, but if it has been awarded a Wine Champion status this year, that means the Buyers may/will have known it’s a SB but still thought it was excellent quality and awarded it accordingly. So for people that don’t like SB, they might be tempted to give it a go, knowing it’s won in the blind tasting? And for people that do, they can enjoy it even more! Not suggesting anyone here change their mind of course, just an observation!
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It was just a throw away comment, it wasn’t meant to be helpful, of benefit or ask for help. Just be light 
.
If you follow my posts, after being very bored and frustrated with my poor grammer/spelling, you’ll note many contributions that are all those things.
On New Zealand Sauvignon I’ve tried many, not written them off. The only ones I like so far is the Greywacke wild yeast which style wise is an outage, its template isn’t the Marlborough norm. The problem for me is the big acidicity,underripe fruit Marlborough style(that’s what I taste) has been so successful that other areas use it as a template too.
Let’s wait and see the champions released this week. I hope there’s a range of styles.
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It’s not clear to me that people who like SB should want a SB that people who don’t like SB like. So that really only works if people in both camps assume the buyers share their own opinion.
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Do you mean that people who don’t like SB will assume the Buyers also don’t like SB, so they may then consider the Wine Champ SB to be of excellent quality because of this? And then people that do like SB assume the Buyers also like SB, so again, would be convinced of the Wine Champs quality?
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I wasn’t being entirely serious. I’m not sure there are actual camps, but if so I’m not really in either one. But if I really didn’t like SB, I’m not sure that success in a blind tasting would make me want to try one.
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Whereas I take the Joan Armatrading view… Even if I am not in love, I am always open to persuasion.
With wine only, I hasten to add!
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I think there are a number of other foodstuffs that fall into this camp for me. Chocolate, Coffee, Tea, Cheese…
Oh, I was just being cautious on the ‘love’ bit 
Open to persuasion on new flavours and food all the time! 
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I don’t think it’s people NOT liking SB per se, it’s more NZ SB having dominated the SB market with poor examples have turned people off SB from New Zealand. I really enjoy a nice Touraine and Greywacke is pretty special along with one or two from Nelson.
It’s a bit like German Sekt, there’s some awful examples but when it’s good it’s VERY good .
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Not just NZ - I can recall being a poor(ish) student in Paris in the early 90s and after countless bistro Sancerre’s (normally all I could afford) really growing to dislike the stuff.
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If anybody hasn’t watched it yet, I would strongly recommend watching the Oz Clarke desert island wines from last week to remind ourselves of the virtues, importance and appeal of New Zealand, especially Marlborough SB.
Seems to me there is a lineage in the popularity of wine styles, and a corollary of dislike among those who feel they know a bit about wine, going back at least as far as the 1980s. Think of German wine, on to heavily oaked chardonnay, then Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and now Picpoul.
I actually think it is a good idea to look out for styles of wine that people are generally disparaging of as they tend to be the places that unheralded, unexpected and relatively cheap delights lurk
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