Money’s wine article

I’ll admit it—I’m a wine geek. And people at work know it. Whenever I’m at a restaurant, the wine list inevitably is passed to me. And the funny thing is, I don’t think I know that much about wine, but compared to those around me I guess I have tried many more wines than they have.

So I found it funny when a coworker handed me the recent Money magazine today and asked what I thought. So here are a few incoherent ramblings after glancing through the article, with their ‘dubious claims’ highlighted:

Dubious Claim No. 1: Expensive = Good
OK, hard to argue against their rationale. But on the flip side, great wines don’t come cheap. However most of the time people aren’t searching for a great wine. They simply want something that fits the event, compliments the food, and doesn’t break the bank.

The author makes a great point here that the cost of a bottle has little to do with your enjoying it. What is in the bottle is what’s important, and how much your preferences match the wine. A friend brought a famous bottle of wine to a hedonistic blow-out we were having one New Year’s Eve. I was in heaven—it was everything I could ever hope for in a glass of wine. My wife turned her nose up at it, not liking it at all. Who was right? Answer: we both were. And while the price of that bottle today is around $500 at auctions, my wife wouldn’t pay $5 for it.

There are a lot of very good wines out there in the $10 -$20 a bottle price range, but it takes experimenting and trying different ones to find what you prefer.

Dubious Claim No. 2: Costly ‘Reserve’ Wines Are Better
Again, hard to argue too hard against this one, although there are exceptions. The agreement first—“Reserve” has absolutely no consistent meaning in the U.S. There is no regulation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (I want to party with those guys!) that covers what the word “reserve” means on a wine label. Considering the regulations on many other things that can be put on the label, I can see where a winery would want to exploit an impressive sounding word. So I have seen some wineries where every bottle has “reserve” slapped on it, whereas other wineries truly do a special bottling that is meant to be superior.

However, in the case of wineries that do put effort in a special bottling they mean as a ‘reserve’ wine, many times these bottles will age better and develop much more complexity, improving with time. In other words, the winery’s ‘everyday’ wine may taste better today upon release, but years down the road the ‘reserve’ may have evolved into something quite exceptional. Again, this is not always the case, but it has been for some labels I have tried that try to actually mean something by using the ‘reserve’ wording.

Dubious Claim No. 3: Experts Know What’s Good for You
With the many rating systems out there for wine, I would argue few people have made this claim. The person doing the ranking usually qualifies and explains what his ranking system consists of. What is great to one person may be undrinkable to someone else. And if some reviewers are making absolute judgments on wine, in the end it all depends on what you enjoy. That being said, I agree with their comment that if you find a wine reviewer that enjoys many of the same wines you do, you can lean on their judgment as a starting point to try new wines.

Don’t rely solely on ratings or scores when buying a wine. A high mark means absolutely nothing if the wine isn’t a style you like.

Dubious Claim No. 4: Store Owners Know Nothing
Just like number 3, I haven’t really heard this argument. If it is a grocery store or wine is a side-line for the business, then sure, I wouldn’t rely on what anyone there suggests. But if it is a good wine store, they open bottles for their staff to taste and recommend. The key on using their expertise is being exact on what you need (“I’m serving grilled salmon in a xxx sauce and I need something under $15 to go with it”) and having an open mind about varietals or regions you haven’t heard of.

You’re the Expert
I agree with their conclusion that wine is not an end unto itself. If it is for a dinner or get together and you believe the wine is important, buy a couple of potential bottles the month before the event and try them. See if they taste good to you and if you think it will go well in your situation. Lean on a knowledgeable wine store owner for suggestions, and reward him with your business if they help you.

Overall it was a good article, even if there were a few strawmen thrown up to easily cut down. I like seeing articles that demystify wine and take the snobbery out of ordering it. Hmmm…not even noon and I’m already thinking about which wine I want tonight with dinner. Maybe reading that article this early in the day wasn’t a great idea!