Comments on: What’s So Fine about Fine Wine Anyway?

By: fredric koeppel

fredric koeppel — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:36:09 +0000

thanks for the thoughtful comments, everyone, except for Marco, and I think that’s a fake anyway. you wouldn’t believe how many false responses show up.

By: MacDaddy Marc

MacDaddy Marc — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:09:10 +0000

Spectacular job of stepping back and looking at the bigger picture. Over here at Enobytes we are drinking a 2008 Maryhill Winemakers Red.

By: Jon Bjork

Jon Bjork — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:20:09 +0000

Nice piece, Fredric. I’ve been thinking about this issue quite a bit lately. Here, in Lodi, we’ve been seeing quite a jump in sales – before the recession as consumers traded up from Two Buck Chuck, then during the recession as the high end collapsed into our sweet spot. Most of Lodi’s smaller wineries aspire to the critical success of Napa, which, to some extent, means shifting the prevailing style away from off-dry with big fruit. In some ways I’m not sure how important it really is to chase Napa’s scores, given that Lodi has come to fill an emerging niche with “those kinds of people.”

By: Glass Bottles

Glass Bottles — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:06:29 +0000

Great article. I think it makes a lot of sense out of what many wine drinkers have long wondered.

By: jb

jb — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:47:12 +0000

Vicksburg – birthplace of bottled Coke, in the dead of summer. Might have been the perfect venue for some of the lovely roses from Languedoc-Roussilon, Cotes-du-Rhone, Spain, or even Paso Robles. Chilled, of course.

By: Christopher Koeppel

Christopher Koeppel — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:58:21 +0000

It is true that most of our guests declined the wine you brought – however it was clear from collecting the bottles after the party that some did drank a glass and may have enjoyed it (or not). The climate should also be considered – it was 96 degrees with no breeze so the chilled drinks naturally dominated. Your daughter-in-law and I typically purchase cheap and decent wines for dinner, and when we can afford something more expensive we occasionally buy a bottle. Your blog has guided us on either choice. By the way, there was plenty of the great wine left over after the party which we enjoyed tremendously while watching movies. Thanks!

By: Anne Woerner

Anne Woerner — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:54:51 +0000

I loved this article and I am truly sorry that I missed the birthday party and a chance to meet you and speak with you about wine.

By: Steve Howei

Steve Howei — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:47:37 +0000

You are right on! Different people are looking for different things in their wine and most are simply looking for a pleasant wine that they can drink. They don’t want to analyze the wine or rate it…just drink it.

I have 2 daughters in their twenties. Both fall into this category and I’ve found myself searching for inexpensive sweet wines that I think they will like as I go wine tasting at various wineries throughout California. There are lots of such wines out there; you just don’t hear as much about them.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:39:33 +0000

Excellent post, Fredric. I disagree with Marco in that it was a very well done piece. As someone who tastes and reviews wines daily (both absurdly expensive and dirt cheap), you could be snobby about your craft. Yet, you continually post about reasonably priced wines that are fantastic. You focus on the experience and not the identity. Wineries should take note and wine lovers should applaud. Kudos!

By: Sherman

Sherman — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:20:49 +0000

We need to remember that the 5% of the market that is concerned with fine wine is like the enthusiast portion of any other product; it’s the small but important segment of the market that drives the visible portion of the dollars. If we look at something like the auto industry, the car magazines infrequently write about vehicles that the average driver *might* buy. What garners the most word space and the coveted cover are the *sexy* cars, the supercars and the limited edition specials.

In much the same way, major coverage in the wine mags goes to the hard to get, the rarified and the hard to come by. If you take the time to read the small print in the large volume of reviews in the back of the mag (or on-line), then you might find some relevance to the mass market — but not much.

It’s also easier to write about the exciting new Mercedes than the same old re-hashed small compact from some mid-pack manufacturer. There is a certain amount of fantasy and aspiration that goes with forking over your $5-$7 to read about what you lust after; even if there’s a Chevy Cobalt in your driveway and a bottle of KJ Chard in the fridge, you can still dream about the really nice stuff –