One of the Best Pieces of Wine Writing I've Read in Years

[Anton_D]

The largest flaw in the petulant Ms Smeltz’s premise of wine enjoyment is that affluence and appreciation are mutually exclusive. As one who is definitely not affluent, it seems to me pretentious to assume that because of the size or value of what one has, that discounts the possibility of using those assets in a fulfilling and generous way. Since she has an appreciation of the passing of time, she should realize that her interactions as a wine professional with these customers only represents a snapshot of their total involvement with wine. Why does she rule out the possibility that many of these people have been responsible for bringing tremendous pleasure to family and friends because of their interest and ability to curate a private wine collection. In her assumption that collectors are crass materialist, she does not consider the pleasure that may have been experiencd in the study associated with assembling a large cellar. Her stripping down of what she perceives as the essence of wine appreciation will not be complete, until her need to compare it to someone else’s is no longer necessary.

Trickle down oenophilia, eh?

[AAgrawal]

I don’t think any of these ideas are mutually exclusive. I think you can believe that some people have way too much money, more than any individual person needs to have in any society, and also that wealthy people can enjoy and derive pleasure from things such as wine just as everyone else does.

There is pretty good research that has been done on relative value of various things, and experiences always outweigh physical possessions. Wine is one of the few hobbies that is both a physical possession and, when opened, an experience that can bring together family, friends, and mark a point in time. It’s one of the many reasons I have such fun with this hobby that we all have.

[John_Morris]

Perhaps I’m just one of the “male, white, middle-aged or older” wine collectors she is implicitly calling out in the piece, although I operate on a far lower level than those who she meets in Manhattan. But it strikes me that this piece is a bit dishonest. Her super-authentic experience of going “back to the vineyard” and drinking with a cult winemaker sitting on a “blue, gray, and red stone floor, worn from a hundred years of use” is just as exclusive and requires just as much capital of various kinds as eating at the fancy Manhattan restaurant she criticizes. It doesn’t “divorce beauty and capital”, it’s just a much classier but equally exclusive experience.

The article is basically contrasting a gross direct purchase at a fancy Manhattan restaurant that sells dinner to the Wall Street crowd to the classier experience of an elite vacation to wine country or high-end wine business job which allows business travel to France and contact with cult winemakers. I agree the latter experience is more fun and more poetic and all but let’s not pretend it’s cheap or broadly accessible.

If you wanted a mass-accessible but authentic wine experience in the U.S. I think it would look something more like grilling on your back deck with old friends you’ve shared a wine tasting group with for many years, drinking a 2000 Chateau Lanessan or some other great Haut Medoc you bought for $12 way back when and have aged for many years.

While I do agree she has romanticized the “authenticity” of her experience, I think you’ve completely mischaracterized her words - she’s in her friend’s cramped old apartment with a salt-of-the-earth Loire grower, not some cult winemaker. And I suspect very few folks who make a living selling Loire in the US would consider their jobs high-end, elite, or fancy in any way (unless their meetings are with Rougard and Dagueneau). If anything, she’s describing her version of your backyard Lanessan with friends, if you substitute Touraine for Haut Medoc - with the added bonus of the visiting grower.

You’re right, Vince — she ends with a simple Loire in a friend’s apartment with a winemaker who evidently isn’t famous.

[Wes_Barton]

The largest flaw in the petulant Ms Smeltz’s premise of wine enjoyment is that affluence and appreciation are mutually exclusive. As one who is definitely not affluent, it seems to me pretentious to assume that because of the size or value of what one has, that discounts the possibility of using those assets in a fulfilling and generous way. Since she has an appreciation of the passing of time, she should realize that her interactions as a wine professional with these customers only represents a snapshot of their total involvement with wine. Why does she rule out the possibility that many of these people have been responsible for bringing tremendous pleasure to family and friends because of their interest and ability to curate a private wine collection. In her assumption that collectors are crass materialist, she does not consider the pleasure that may have been experiencd in the study associated with assembling a large cellar. Her stripping down of what she perceives as the essence of wine appreciation will not be complete, until her need to compare it to someone else’s is no longer necessary.

As a somm, she has a skewed perspective. She’s seeing a subset of wine geeks. She’s also surely seeing an overly high number of wine snobs. It’s a common perception bias that leads people to judge a class of others by the few who make the biggest impression.

We certainly have rich snobby people in the Silicon Valley, who cloister themselves off, make a show of their wealth, frequent all the best restaurants and whatever. We also have plenty of rich people who aren’t snobs. They may still have a vacation home or two elsewhere in the U.S. and a home in Europe, travel, go to fine restaurants and engage in various spendy hobbies, but they also go out and do more normal things, and don’t judge others by their jobs or income. They choose their friends by quality, not prestige. They know how to find joy in life. A perhaps surprising number of serious wine collectors are great home hobbyist chefs who put most restaurants to shame. These aren’t people who just buy there prestige wines that are supposed to be the best. They taste, explore, form their own opinions. They recognize quality in many forms and reject pretense.

I don’t know how to resolve this ugly binding together of things of beauty and capital.

Poor people around the world have found joy in food. There’s no shortage of great “beautiful” food made out of the most basic, affordable ingredients. It just takes a little effort. Sometimes growing or making things yourself means higher quality. I’m blessed to live in an area with lots of immigrants from all over the world. I can go to Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Afghan, Indian, Mexican, Korean, etc. markets and buy items/ingredients for a fraction of the price and usually higher quality than the fru-fru stores, if they carry those items at all. The finest quality beer making ingredients are readily available, as are top-rate recipes. If you’re half-decent in the kitchen, you should be able to make better beer than almost everything you can buy, and surpass your break-even point on capital equipment and supplies with your second batch.

[Alan_Rath]

I fully admit, even as someone who hasn’t tasted nearly as many world-class wines as a lot of folks here, that I find myself chasing the dragon and lusting after the wines that we’ve been told lead to the kind of experiences only they can offer.

I don’t have a comment in the article, but I would say chasing those special unicorns will often be a disappointment. I would say on that front, let them come to you. They will, over time, without you actively chasing them. And then, take pleasure from the myriad excellent wines that don’t cost an arm, leg, or first born. There are so many great wines that aren’t impossible to find or attain. Take it from someone who has dabbled in chasing some unicorns, that you can have a great life of wine drinking without those unicorns

[John_Morris]

I fully admit, even as someone who hasn’t tasted nearly as many world-class wines as a lot of folks here, that I find myself chasing the dragon and lusting after the wines that we’ve been told lead to the kind of experiences only they can offer.

I don’t have a comment in the article, but I would say chasing those special unicorns will often be a disappointment. I would say on that front, let them come to you. They will, over time, without you actively chasing them. And then, take pleasure from the myriad excellent wines that don’t cost an arm, leg, or first born. There are so many great wines that aren’t impossible to find or attain. Take it from someone who has dabbled in chasing some unicorns, that you can have a great life of wine drinking without those unicorns

+1

[Sean_S_y_d_n_e_y]

I don’t have a comment in the article, but I would say chasing those special unicorns will often be a disappointment. I would say on that front, let them come to you. They will, over time, without you actively chasing them. And then, take pleasure from the myriad excellent wines that don’t cost an arm, leg, or first born. There are so many great wines that aren’t impossible to find or attain. Take it from someone who has dabbled in chasing some unicorns, that you can have a great life of wine drinking without those unicorns

Appreciate that, Alan.

I find my greatest pleasures, aside from sharing ANY wine with passionate people, is to find great wines for relatively modest prices. Not only actually drinking them, but scouring around for great Mâconnais wines or great Loire finds is part of the fun for me. Perhaps that’s just my coping mechanism of sorts knowing that the truly “great” bottles are likely forever out of my reach unless generously shared by people with access to them (as many of my most wonderful wine experiences have been), but I still find it incredibly gratifying to find $30 bottles that I feel are world-class regardless of price.

Like you said, at the same the unicorn wines have reached stratospheric heights we’re also lucky to be in an era where affordable great wines are everywhere.

[Marshall_Manning]

I don’t have a comment in the article, but I would say chasing those special unicorns will often be a disappointment. I would say on that front, let them come to you. They will, over time, without you actively chasing them. And then, take pleasure from the myriad excellent wines that don’t cost an arm, leg, or first born. There are so many great wines that aren’t impossible to find or attain. Take it from someone who has dabbled in chasing some unicorns, that you can have a great life of wine drinking without those unicorns

Totally agree, Alan. There are so many excellent, quality producers that don’t get a lot of hype or huge scores. As long as you’re concerned about impressing your own palate and not trying to chase the top .5% then it’s not difficult to drink well for under $50/bottle most of the time.

[GregT]

But with the loss of smell, the temporary loss of the ability to sense wine altogether, and perhaps with it a job, I was reminded, sharply, that our culture does not teach us what is important outside of the practice of amassing wealth and fancy goods.

She was reminded that our culture is at fault. Our culture is sick. Our culture is all wrong.

Nothing to do with her. Nope. It’s all the culture. See, she’s NOT a product of that culture. She’s independent and apart from it. That’s why she has such insights.

Where the hell is this culture? Can I talk to him? Because I know it’s a him and not a her since it’s bad.

Yet one more tiresome piece complaining about the “culture” that gives her employment, a place to share her self-doubt, and the wonderful experience in someone’s apartment. Those guys who are selling their collections are most likely not looking for any sympathy from her. Did any of them collect wine with their spouse, enjoying visits to vineyards and wineries and sharing their love for each other and for wine with all the people they knew? And are any of them now alone, having lost the person who meant most to them and no longer wanting something that meant so much to them in the past?

No. They’re money-grubbing privileged types.

Sorry Sean. I couldn’t stand the piece.

[Sean_S_y_d_n_e_y]

Sorry Sean. I couldn’t stand the piece.

That’s fair enough, but I think the thrust of the article WAS her questioning her role in the culture of fine-ish dining and the culture at large that commodifies wine to the nth degree and her uncomfortable feeling of perpetuating it in exchange for a role in said culture and the access it offered.