So the wife and I pulled a movie marathon, all of Easter weekend, and one of the movies we happened to watch was "Bottle Shock". In essence, it was a movie based in the late 1970's when France was the mecca of the wine world, and California was just considered a collection of rednecks who happened to make crap wine. Well, (spoiler alert), in the end a blind taste test was done with a table of well respected people in the French wine world, and they chose a California Chardonnay as their #1 wine, much to the Frenchies' displeasure. The movie was great, but on the other side of the coin it showed a lot of wine snobbery that still exists today. Wine, and it's perception in the world is a sensitive spot for me. I loathe the wine snobs of the world. Those who think wine is a rich man's world, and harbor opinions spoon fed to them by critics, of what they should think is good, and what they should be drinking and approving of.
For anyone who has worked in this industry (I have put forth a full harvest season), we know that wine making is a fluff term granted to people by other people ignorant of the process. My boss and I would joke that all a winemaker is, is a glorified dishwasher. It's grunt work. It's filthy, it's messy, it's one of the most physically demanding things you could do. 90% of your day is spent washing one container or another, getting years old grape chunks on you, and in your mouth and various orifices. In the end the winemaker, stripped of such a title, and put forth in a room of wine lovers not knowing his profession, would be put down, and looked down upon by the people enjoying the fruits of his labor.
Yet this snobbery still exists, and in rampant proportions. People buy into the illusion and mystique of wine, because they want to. It makes them feel special, and knowledgeable. They drink up every word of the wine critics, not understanding that every person and every palette is different. No two people will experience the exact same wine in the exact same way. It is one of the few truly subjective things you can undertake in this world. So, I don't understand how people can damn a wine just because critic says it's not up to his standards. His crap wine could be someone else's lifelong favorite.
Wine is a beverage! Nothing more...nothing less. Sure it has complex traits that you can write and dream about for generations upon generations, but in the end it is just something you put in your mouth, enjoy, and swallow. Every wine has it's place, and every wine deserves its shot to grace your mouth. No matter if you think it's crap, someone out there slaved and toiled over each and every bottle of wine, and one should let their own senses experience and judge a wine...not trust in someone else's opinion. There are people who look down on boxed wine. My question is..why? I myself am not rich, and can't afford a 15.00 bottle every night with dinner. Sure, the quality is not the same as any well aged wine in a bottle, but for what it is, and it's price and value, you really can't beat it, if you're just talking about a simple wine to have with dinner every night. Box wine, just like bottled wine have different tiers of enjoyability. Just because it is in a box, does not mean it automatically sucks...taste and sample them just like any other wine. There's something to be said about a 3 liter box of wine for 25.00 that may last you a couple weeks, due to how its packaged, keeping it from turning as quick.
I love wine, and have moved my family across the country to make it my life and to pursue it as a living. I LOVE wine, but c'mon people, let's put it in perspective. I guess I just went on a rant, but the snobbery that I saw in Bottle Shocked, that still exists today in various levels and degrees really irritates me as a person of the industry. SO many great wines in this world are left unappreciated, and untasted, because some pompous asshole deemed it subpar, and so many people are willing to believe it without tasting it. And so many subpar wines experience a following due to the same reason. There are a lot of people who only drink CA wines, just because they read praises about it...well honestly a lot of wines coming from CA are massed produced, overly oaked messes, nowadays. But people still love it, because they believe thats how they SHOULD feel.
All I'm saying is, experience wine for yourselves...judge it only after you've breathed it in, looked at it in the light, and have put it to your lips and tongue. Every wine deserves a shot.
For anyone who has worked in this industry (I have put forth a full harvest season), we know that wine making is a fluff term granted to people by other people ignorant of the process. My boss and I would joke that all a winemaker is, is a glorified dishwasher. It's grunt work. It's filthy, it's messy, it's one of the most physically demanding things you could do. 90% of your day is spent washing one container or another, getting years old grape chunks on you, and in your mouth and various orifices. In the end the winemaker, stripped of such a title, and put forth in a room of wine lovers not knowing his profession, would be put down, and looked down upon by the people enjoying the fruits of his labor.
Yet this snobbery still exists, and in rampant proportions. People buy into the illusion and mystique of wine, because they want to. It makes them feel special, and knowledgeable. They drink up every word of the wine critics, not understanding that every person and every palette is different. No two people will experience the exact same wine in the exact same way. It is one of the few truly subjective things you can undertake in this world. So, I don't understand how people can damn a wine just because critic says it's not up to his standards. His crap wine could be someone else's lifelong favorite.
Wine is a beverage! Nothing more...nothing less. Sure it has complex traits that you can write and dream about for generations upon generations, but in the end it is just something you put in your mouth, enjoy, and swallow. Every wine has it's place, and every wine deserves its shot to grace your mouth. No matter if you think it's crap, someone out there slaved and toiled over each and every bottle of wine, and one should let their own senses experience and judge a wine...not trust in someone else's opinion. There are people who look down on boxed wine. My question is..why? I myself am not rich, and can't afford a 15.00 bottle every night with dinner. Sure, the quality is not the same as any well aged wine in a bottle, but for what it is, and it's price and value, you really can't beat it, if you're just talking about a simple wine to have with dinner every night. Box wine, just like bottled wine have different tiers of enjoyability. Just because it is in a box, does not mean it automatically sucks...taste and sample them just like any other wine. There's something to be said about a 3 liter box of wine for 25.00 that may last you a couple weeks, due to how its packaged, keeping it from turning as quick.
I love wine, and have moved my family across the country to make it my life and to pursue it as a living. I LOVE wine, but c'mon people, let's put it in perspective. I guess I just went on a rant, but the snobbery that I saw in Bottle Shocked, that still exists today in various levels and degrees really irritates me as a person of the industry. SO many great wines in this world are left unappreciated, and untasted, because some pompous asshole deemed it subpar, and so many people are willing to believe it without tasting it. And so many subpar wines experience a following due to the same reason. There are a lot of people who only drink CA wines, just because they read praises about it...well honestly a lot of wines coming from CA are massed produced, overly oaked messes, nowadays. But people still love it, because they believe thats how they SHOULD feel.
All I'm saying is, experience wine for yourselves...judge it only after you've breathed it in, looked at it in the light, and have put it to your lips and tongue. Every wine deserves a shot.
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