Wine Swoons and Epiphanies

[Tony S]

Perfect is the enemy of good....

My thought was more along the lines of "You get what you pay for, and sometimes what you pay for is a lot of glitter at the expense of substance." Another way to put it is to say that the world's great wine values - which may be inexpensive or quite pricey - are generally still made by what are essentially agricultural operations, not showplaces. California is the home of showplaces. Meanwhile its agricultural operations are either relegated to producing anonymous plonk because ... well, we want showplaces and don't take the wine seriously otherwise - OR they become cult items that we can't possibly afford.

Edit: All of which is a long way of saying that Europe has its priorities straight when it comes to wine, and we haven't figured it out yet.

 

[Tony S]

Meanwhile ... 15 minutes left to guess what we had with the chicken paprikash.

 

[Tony S]

Chateau Mouton Rothchild 1970. ...Opened it. Tasted it. ... I could drink it on a regular basis.

 

[mdf]

My thought was more along the lines of "You get what you pay for, and sometimes what you pay for is a lot of glitter at the expense of substance." Another way to put it is to say that the world's great wine values - which may be inexpensive or quite pricey - are generally still made by what are essentially agricultural operations, not showplaces. California is the home of showplaces. Meanwhile its agricultural operations are either relegated to producing anonymous plonk because ... well, we want showplaces and don't take the wine seriously otherwise - OR they become cult items that we can't possibly afford.

I don't find that to be true, except in the heart of Napa. We've been to a lot of great low-key places in Lodi, Paso Robles, Livermore, Mendicino, and even in the more remote parts of Napa and Sonoma. Places where the only guests are Pam and me and the proprietor and one intern are serving wine and chatting for an hour.

And even in the heart of Sonoma, you have places that look fancy, like Trentadue. But Mr. Trentadue (forget his first name, sorry) is a farmer, the winemaker is an old-school European, and the marketing flash is done by a couple of enthusiastic twenty-somethings.
Eta: Victor!

 

[mdf]

Meanwhile ... 15 minutes left to guess what we had with the chicken paprikash.

My guess: An aromatic white I've never heard of.

 

[Tony S]

I don't find that to be true, except in the heart of Napa. We've been to a lot of great low-key places in Lodi, Los Robles, Mendicino, and even in the more remote parts of Napa and Sonoma. Places where the only guests are Pam and me and the proprietor and one intern are serving wine and chatting for an hour.

And even in the heart of Sonoma, you have places that look fancy, like Trentadue. But Mr. Trentadue (forget his first name, sorry) is a farmer, the winemaker is an old-school European, and the marketing flash is done by a couple of enthusiastic twenty-somethings.

Heartening. I need to get the list and head out for a reality check, then.

 

[Paul Lutes]

I believe it's a universally human phenomenon, where in no matter where you are success often exceeds the capacity of people to remain humble i.e. their heads get all swoll, etc.
Charming small wineries can be found almost any where, as can pretentious, self-congratulatory snobby wineries. It all boils down to how good is the wine and your personal limits on undeserved hype. I've only really had one bad experience in an over-rated winery with over-rated wine, and that was in Oregon.

 

[Tony S]

My guess: An aromatic white I've never heard of.

Yes. Totally. Except that you have heard of it, of course. And ... ... It goes with half-sour pickles!

 

[Andy Mink]

We have a few favorites: Kenwood, Chateau St. Jean, Markham, Geyser Peak. V. Sattui has a great deli. Some are fancy, some not so much.

 

[mdf]

Yes. Totally. Except that you have heard of it, of course. And ... ... It goes with half-sour pickles!



View attachment 98777

Of course!

 

[mdf]

Heartening. I need to get the list and head out for a reality check, then.

Of course, we have also been to lots of places that were way too full of themselves, either because the winery is basically a movie set, or because they are way too earnest and think they are God's gift to wine. Some we go to on purpose for the view or the garden or the art, and some we stumble into. But we just laugh and enjoy them for what they are.

One of my favorite in the way-too-earnest group was a physically-unassuming converted barn way up North on the edge of Napa or Sonoma (forget which). They specialized in petite syrah, which actually was pretty good (but not the best of that trip, not even close). It was small enough, and unfamous enough that one of the managers was showing us around. During that, he mentions that they are also making a little wine from grape X, which they can get for only Y dollars per ton. (Don't remember for sure, but X might be gamay.) "As a result, we can sell it for $18 a bottle! Who makes wine for $18?" (This was ten years ago, so substitute something more like $25 for today's money.) As he turned away, I muttered to Pam, "well, Spain, all of South America, most of Italy, parts of France...."

 

[cantunamunch]

It all boils down to how good is the wine and your personal limits on undeserved hype. I've only really had one bad experience in an over-rated winery with over-rated wine, and that was in Oregon.

Around here the pretense precedes the success. Seriously.

If you're in an ungentrified barn between Charlottesville VA and Chester County PA, you're not going to sell anything. (Mind you, there's some fantastic cider available, if you don't mind buying TetraPaks)

But gussy the place up -think flagstones and big out of state pine logs here - invite bands and hire a wedding consultant, print up some 4-bottle and 6-bottle cardboard carriers, get some glasses etched and put your place on a business bureau wine map and

SHAZAM! busloads of tourists will drink sip at, with a knowing air, your turpentine-stinking sweetened hose water.

If I only still had the gas money I've burned driving out-of-towners around... I could go skiing and drinking in Georgia both.

 

[mdf]

We have an acquaintance originally from Virginia. Back when we were in an organized wine tasting group (part of the town Newcomer's club, so a long time ago) she kept pushing for Virginia wines. We tried a few. Some were actually fairly good. The problem was, they were the same price as really, really good wines from elsewhere. So we never did the VA theme.

Unlike the event where we tried New England wines. (We were all newcomers, after all.) Out of 6 wines, one was drinkable.

 

[Tony S]

Yeah, New England is for Beer

 

[Paul Lutes]

Around here the pretense precedes the success. Seriously.

If you're in an ungentrified barn between Charlottesville VA and Chester County PA, you're not going to sell anything. (Mind you, there's some fantastic cider available, if you don't mind buying TetraPaks)

But gussy the place up -think flagstones and big out of state pine logs here - invite bands and hire a wedding consultant, print up some 4-bottle and 6-bottle cardboard carriers, get some glasses etched and put your place on a business bureau wine map and

SHAZAM! busloads of tourists will drink sip at, with a knowing air, your turpentine-stinking sweetened hose water.

If I only still had the gas money I've burned driving out-of-towners around... I could go skiing and drinking in Georgia both.

Ha! Good one! When the sippers obviously haven't done their homework i.e. gathered as many reviews (official and un) as is practical (very easy) then they absolutely get what they deserve. Unfortunately, it's kind of like religion -no one wants to admit their wine palate is shite, and they will go to their graves insisting that that turpentine syrup (as in "a fine Sydney syrup", closely related to the varietal that tastes like an aborigine's arm pit) is God's nectar

 

[mdf]

Ha! Good one! When the sippers obviously haven't done their homework i.e. gathered as many reviews (official and un) as is practical (very easy) then they absolutely get what they deserve. Unfortunately, it's kind of like religion -no one wants to admit their wine palate is shite, and they will go to their graves insisting that that turpentine syrup (as in "a fine Sydney syrup", closely related to the varietal that tastes like an aborigine's arm pit) is God's nectar

This is not a wine for drinking. This is a wine for laying down and backing away from.

 

[graham418]

This is not a wine for drinking. This is a wine for laying down and backing away from.

I immediately thought of MP's Australian Wine Sketch.

 

[mdf]

I immediately thought of MP's Australian Wine Sketch.

Arghh! "avoiding" not "backing away from".

 

[Paul Lutes]

Have another glass/pour - it will help the little grey cells rejuvenate.

And backing away from is a much better image.