Grower champagne isn’t as good as the “cool kids” make it out to be.
All of you are wrong
Oh no doubt that lemming-like demand is pushing Chateaux to hire Rollo and his ilk. The sad part is, classic Chateau with long track records and a respectable following, are now moving to the dark side. Sheez, even Lanessan recently moved over to the modernists.
The vanguard of American winemaking is more exciting than any place in Europe.
Wine can only be so good, prices above a certain point are irrelevant and don’t relate to quality, with very few exceptions.
Bottles with natural corks will age better when stored upright.
The Burgundians could solve the premox problem if they’d only go back to crushing the Chardonnay before pressing.
There really isn’t anything in this hobby which is markedly better than Zardetto + Saracco for dinner, and you can find both of those at Total Wine.
Also, note Nolan E’s point above - these wines will cut right through a beef dish - you don’t even need to waste any money on a red.
PS: I am also starting to think strongly about cellaring the Moscato d’Asti wines - I suspect that Muscat might age even better over the centuries than does Riesling.
Sauvignon Blanc is best when used in cheese fondue.
Asimov beat you to this one.
Red wines do not need to ‘breath’ prior to drinking(studies already have proven this).
Wines do not become better with age, they simply become different.
Napa cabs have become boring.
Such as?
Robert Parker has been an incredibly positive influence in wine enthusiasm.
The opinions and tastes of wine geeks are not as important in the world of wine as we may think.
fact. cheese coats the mouth and inhibits your ability to taste wine.
Travel shock is a myth, especially for older Nebbiolo.
The three that come immediately to mind are Chris Brockaway (Broc Cellars), Abe Schoener (Scholium Project), and Hardy Wallace (Dirty & Rowdy). They are experimenting using unloved grapes, lowering alcohol levels, etc. The nascent US winemaking industry is not as bound by tradition as Europe, which allows for techniques that would be rejected, or even illegal, in the old world.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that US wine is better now or that it will be better in the future. In fact, I have had wine from all 3 of the people I’ve named that I have not liked. Nonetheless, it’s still quite interesting to see winemakers pushing the envelope.
Not only are you all wrong, you are funny doing it. Bravo.
Gotta put Morgan in that Vanguardia. Love what he’s doing with field blends.
Most people’s palate’s aren’t as good as they think it is. Give them a highly loved and rated wine double blind, especially from one of their favorite producers, and see what happens.
Conversely, most wines are not as good as people think (label bias).
I suppose my unpopular wine opinions are;
Those who say that alcohol level is immaterial as long as the wine is “balanced” are full of it.
Bigger is not better.
The California wine-making scene, by and large, has been in stunted-growth mode since the early 1980’s. So much more could have been done to match vineyard location with variety with wine making practices but for all kinds of economic factors that got in the way. A corollary to this is that of all the major wine making regions of the World, California is afflicted with the most “ego pricing”.
Of all the major California red varieties, syrah improves the least with advanced years.
Love this thread. The “bah humbug” thread!
Agree on many:
Stemware overrated and overpriced
Aging- many that age dont actually improve with age.
High Alcohol wine is most often overripe and unbalanced, especially pinot
Most California Pinot is high alcohol
Many many $$$ wines are chased for the label and exclusivity of ownership as opposed to the juice inside.
Many wine afficionados are alcoholics
Are you saying you don’t like Champange/Sparklers enough to pay more than that, period, or you think the ones that cost more than $20 aren’t worth it? My gut reaction was “Jeez what an awful opinion” but then I realized that although I love Champagne, I think everything over ~$75 isn’t worth it.
I ALSO think sparkling wine gets demonstrably worse with age and should be consumed fresh/young (and I like other aged whites!)