“Wine consumers should grow a spine and buy what they like without the need of reassurance from 'experts' who will tell them whether or not what they purchased is 'good.'”
I saw this comment on a wine-related Internet forum in a thread dedicated to the timeless debate about alcohol levels, overripe flavors and extraction in California wine. Like every other thread that tackles this subject, it revealed starkly-drawn lines based on personal tastes and/or geographic loyalties. No surprise.
The thing is, I do somewhat agree with the quoted assertion, but I do so more at a wistful, emotional level rather than a logical one. Is it realistic for wine consumers to not, at least sometimes, rely on the opinions of others when purchasing wine? I don't really think so. I don't even think it is reasonable. I think that the history of wine consumption in the United States demonstrates quite starkly that most of us, as a group, do not have much confidence in our own palates.
I saw this comment on a wine-related Internet forum in a thread dedicated to the timeless debate about alcohol levels, overripe flavors and extraction in California wine. Like every other thread that tackles this subject, it revealed starkly-drawn lines based on personal tastes and/or geographic loyalties. No surprise.
The thing is, I do somewhat agree with the quoted assertion, but I do so more at a wistful, emotional level rather than a logical one. Is it realistic for wine consumers to not, at least sometimes, rely on the opinions of others when purchasing wine? I don't really think so. I don't even think it is reasonable. I think that the history of wine consumption in the United States demonstrates quite starkly that most of us, as a group, do not have much confidence in our own palates.
The average consumer walks into a wine retailer and is confronted with thousands of wine bottles dressed, in many cases, with labels they do not even understand fully. The boutique-ish label featuring a wolf wearing a construction helmet or the fuzzy bunny on a unicycle or a chunk of nearly indecipherable German doesn't tell them if the product is good or not. Neither does the pricetag. Yes, an attentive and knowledgeable salesperson can at least partially remedy this inherent confusion, but the presence of staff like this on the retail floors of the establishments where most people buy wine really is the exception rather than the rule.
The very nature of the market, the countless choices in nearly countless wine types, ensures apprehension. And the higher the price point that consumer is willing to shop, the more their apprehension is likely to grow. There certainly are those who are willing to spend their money and take risks on unknowns in the search of something new and different, but we are a minority.
Of course, they don't necessarily need to rely on "experts", the super-palates in print. They simply want validation from others. Perhaps they seek to impress their friends with, “You know, this Pinot got a 94 from Tanzer.” Maybe they need a house warming gift for a wine wonk and they want to avoid embarrassment. Most likely, they just want a solid bottle of wine for their money and they don't want to get home, pop the cork, hate what they taste and either feel like they “don't get it” or that they just flushed $35 down the crapper.
In recent decades, the “experts” have been a dominant force in the wine buying habits of U.S. consumers, particularly in the greater than $20 per bottle market. Be it Parker, Tanzer, the collective palate of the Wine Spectator staff, or a handful of others, there have been a very finite number of voices speaking at sufficient volume to be heard above the din. Certainly these voices, and the volumes of tasting notes that they produce, can be useful in separating the obvious chaff from the wheat, but does any one voice genuinely speak for your palate? Can any one nose and tongue that travels the world and drinks and scores in upwards of ten thousand wines per year, often in locations and conditions that differ very much from your dining room, represent your vinous interests accurately? They may very well, but it can prove to be a very expensive proposition to even find out for sure.
The prominent wine review publications have largely transitioned from the print-centric world to the Internet very effectively, ultimately even offering more value now than before consumers knew what “www” stood for. However, they may also prove to be a bit of an anachronism. Communal knowledge is something that is held in very high regard on the Internet. It's relied upon. It's embraced. This is not communism of knowledge, rather quite the opposite. The wine world has been slow to adapt to this trend but might Google someday prove to be a more popular method for finding wine reviews than the Wine Spectator Online review search engine?
Thanks to vibrant online communities of wine drinkers, websites like Cellar Tracker (which offers, in effect, Amazon.com-esque consumer wine reviews) and the continued proliferation of review-centric wine blogs, the average consumer can get what may prove to be more reliable and varied reviews of individual wines, and at no cost to boot. With the continued proliferation of iPhones, PDAs, Blackberries and other Internet-connected handheld devices, they can even get those reviews in the store with the pressing of a few buttons.
Honestly, when confronted with a purchase decision on the $35 2004 Fuzzy Bunny on a Unicycle Cabernet, would you rather have Robert Parker's opinion, or the opinions of twenty average wine drinkers?
The very nature of the market, the countless choices in nearly countless wine types, ensures apprehension. And the higher the price point that consumer is willing to shop, the more their apprehension is likely to grow. There certainly are those who are willing to spend their money and take risks on unknowns in the search of something new and different, but we are a minority.
Of course, they don't necessarily need to rely on "experts", the super-palates in print. They simply want validation from others. Perhaps they seek to impress their friends with, “You know, this Pinot got a 94 from Tanzer.” Maybe they need a house warming gift for a wine wonk and they want to avoid embarrassment. Most likely, they just want a solid bottle of wine for their money and they don't want to get home, pop the cork, hate what they taste and either feel like they “don't get it” or that they just flushed $35 down the crapper.
In recent decades, the “experts” have been a dominant force in the wine buying habits of U.S. consumers, particularly in the greater than $20 per bottle market. Be it Parker, Tanzer, the collective palate of the Wine Spectator staff, or a handful of others, there have been a very finite number of voices speaking at sufficient volume to be heard above the din. Certainly these voices, and the volumes of tasting notes that they produce, can be useful in separating the obvious chaff from the wheat, but does any one voice genuinely speak for your palate? Can any one nose and tongue that travels the world and drinks and scores in upwards of ten thousand wines per year, often in locations and conditions that differ very much from your dining room, represent your vinous interests accurately? They may very well, but it can prove to be a very expensive proposition to even find out for sure.
The prominent wine review publications have largely transitioned from the print-centric world to the Internet very effectively, ultimately even offering more value now than before consumers knew what “www” stood for. However, they may also prove to be a bit of an anachronism. Communal knowledge is something that is held in very high regard on the Internet. It's relied upon. It's embraced. This is not communism of knowledge, rather quite the opposite. The wine world has been slow to adapt to this trend but might Google someday prove to be a more popular method for finding wine reviews than the Wine Spectator Online review search engine?
Thanks to vibrant online communities of wine drinkers, websites like Cellar Tracker (which offers, in effect, Amazon.com-esque consumer wine reviews) and the continued proliferation of review-centric wine blogs, the average consumer can get what may prove to be more reliable and varied reviews of individual wines, and at no cost to boot. With the continued proliferation of iPhones, PDAs, Blackberries and other Internet-connected handheld devices, they can even get those reviews in the store with the pressing of a few buttons.
Honestly, when confronted with a purchase decision on the $35 2004 Fuzzy Bunny on a Unicycle Cabernet, would you rather have Robert Parker's opinion, or the opinions of twenty average wine drinkers?
1 comments:
I couldn't agree more! A good review of wines should include wine ratings on shelf-talkers or in large publications that are mean ratings of websites like cellar tracker and other independent wine groups.
Best,
Mike at foodandwineblog
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