Crazy Recent Op-Eds on Wine-Searcher

Geez, I have not been reading enough Op-Ed pieces on the #Wine Searcher website lately (https://www.wine-searcher.com). The editor there must have changed. Recent articles posted on their website have been ridiculous. Like these…

Forget Cellaring Wine?

The link to this article is at: https://tinyurl.com/4yn62bwa

This piece was written just to get people upset. The title is deliberately meant to be provocative and act as click-bait for wine enthusiasts. I can’t believe a respected industry media outlet like Wine Searcher posted it. This writer doesn’t have a palate and obviously does not collect, or cellar wines – otherwise, they would understand the obvious benefits of bottle aging fine wines. The argument that wine enthusiasts prefer the fresher fruit forward character of younger wines and are just shamed by the wine elite into bottle aging wine is ridiculous. Seriously? Cellaring wine is an exclusionary practice? This piece reads like a political promo brochure selling a popular candidate… no it is not ethically wrong to age a bottle of wine. No, bottle aged wines when cellared correctly do not lose their fresh fruit. (I could go on…) #Bordeaux, #Barolo, #Brunello would never taste their best opening before AT LEAST five years of bottle age. Even Napa cabs improve in a five year window. Yes, not everyone spends $50 USD or more on a bottle, but for those who do, the expense of cellaring wine is definitely worth it.

Expensive Wine is Unethical?

Find the link to this article here: https://tinyurl.com/u33h7ae6

This writer is out of his mind. Every free-market proprietor is entitled to set their own pricing. If someone is willing to pay the price, whether it is because the product is THAT good, or just the novelty of it, heck… even just for social status… more power to them! In free market economies, regulating price is crazy! Wineries should be allowed to sell wine at prices the market will bear. There is no denied basic need here. If a winery is able to sell their production every year at ridiculous prices, so be it. Is there any value there? No, not in my opinion. Do I think a bottle of DRC, or Bordeaux Gran Cru is worth several thousand USD? No. Is poor value a sin now? If you want to look at basic commodities we all need to survive, wheat, corn, water, etc. you could make an argument, but wine? Seriously?