Comments on: The Wine Industry Is Mostly Bullshit

By: humpity

humpity — Sat, 05 May 2012 12:22:00 +0000

The rich need something to do.

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:01:39 +0000

That movie was GREAT! This Pine kid is going places for sure. Funny that Bottle Shock was the last movie he did before the epic his early career will most be remembered for. Great movie recommendation once again, Uncle Neil. Thanks!

By: Uncle Neil

Uncle Neil — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:42:18 +0000

You might like the movie ‘Bottle Shock’. It is based on the true history of the first time California wines were in a French blind taste competition. It is pretty well done with nice music. I have seen it a couple of times already. If you haven’t seen it I think you might like it.

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:56:07 +0000

No, silly, that’s British people.

Thanks. This has been pretty trolltastic.

By: simon

simon — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:53:15 +0000

Caveat emptor, you could say.
I also wanted to congratulate you on your superbly trolly post title. I look forward to your next post “French people are mostly stupid”

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:38:21 +0000

I don’t just swallow and think “That must be nice, considering how expensive it is”.

Of course you don’t. And neither was I when I was at the wine tasting. What I’m talking/conjecturing about is subconscious suggestion. It can only be measured by blind experimentation like the water experiment I mentioned in the post.

I don’t think the wine industry is much more bullshitty than any other industry.

I love this sentence. I like your tailoring reference, too. I agree that in all luxury item industries there is a point where the price keeps going up but the quality values flatten out and you get rich people buying expensive items for the brand or prestige only, at which point they are off into the bullshit realm. A bullshit threshold, if you will.

I just think that wine hits that threshold much faster than clothes, or televisions, or stereo systems, or cars.

I guess what annoys me about the wine industry is that I understand enough about psychology to doubt just how much difference people are perceiving. I realize that it sounds condescending to tell someone they are wrong about their own perceptions, but sometimes human perception is really terrible.

You’re right that I should stop resenting the people who I think are spending too much and the industry that I think is duping them. Everyone should have the right to dupe and be duped.

By: simon

simon — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:19:12 +0000

Leaving aside the fact that most pizzerias don’t have sommeliers, I would counter that visiting a fancy restaurant and knowing that it’s expensive doesn’t somehow neuter my critical faculties. If anything, I’m likely to be more critical if something’s expensive, as I want to get my money’s worth. I don’t just swallow and think “That must be nice, considering how expensive it is”.

As regards the fact that you were at a vineyard rather than in a restaurant, I’d say that people who go on wine-tasting tours tend to be, by definition, more interested in and/or experienced with wine, and are more likely to be interested in a bottle for 50 euros (and to know whether or not it’s worth it) than one that costs 5.

Two final points. 1) I don’t think the wine industry is much more bullshitty than any other industry. I know nothing about tailoring, so I can’t tell the difference between a 50Euro suit and a 500Euro one, but that doesn’t mean that people who spend more than me are suckers. Similarly I would never buy a car that cost more than my house, but there are people who do and I’m sure they have a good reason to do so.
2) What is “good” wine, anyway? If you see (or taste) no difference and are perfectly happy drinking the moderately priced stuff, good for you, but why resent the fact that some people do perceive a difference and are willing to pay for it?

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:38:00 +0000

No real need to buy either a subscription to a magazine or an app for your phone. Go to you local bodega, and get a free class from the owner/most competent employee. Since it behooves the shop to produce educated consumers, and since most wine shops, like most bicycle shops and a few other niche market places, tend to be staffed by fervent devotees, you’ll likely get a fairly honest introduction to your own palate and how it best interacts with your wallet. The other benefit is that you’ll get recommendations for stuff you can actually get a hold of. In any event, we’re in one of the world’s great (and rationally priced) wine markets. You really can’t go wrong with much of the market offer in the €5-15 range. You might, in particular, want to check out anything made with the Mencía grape from Ribeira Sacra or some of the unsung wonders from the Empordà D.O.

By: Lance

Lance — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:40:31 +0000

I tried something similar for BlackBerry once. Once. Sitting in the restaurant, looking up scores for the available wines, I felt like someone I would definitely make fun of. For me, the lure of finding the best available bargain didn’t outweigh the self-respect cost. But that would probably change if I were spending more per bottle than I usually do.

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:09:46 +0000

A $4.95 app sure beats a $75 subscription to Wine Specatator, even if the app is a little USD-centric. I recognize a few Spanish wines on the list. I’ll have to do some reconnaissance at the local bodegas to see if I can find some with ratings.

Surely there’s an iWineCellar app or two out there too for keeping track of posh iPhone users’ wine collections, with alerts for when certain vintages should be drunk. If not, we should write one.