I was at an interesting tasting yesterday where we were evaluating dozens of wines, and one of the participants had a funny and
insightful analogy. To paraphrase, he said one of the wines was like a “Greg.” Everyone knows Greg–he’s a warm, friendly guy, he’s
not pretentious, he gets along with everyone, etc. EVERYONE likes Greg.
So with that in mind, do you have a Greg wine? Has your Greg wine changed over time?
Bruce
Is this the same as a “Steve” wine, or “Ahmed”, or “Nikita”, …
Outside of Meiomi, what would be slurpy and fun-loving and likeable?
I think taste is fairly individual.
Bob. Bob is a better analogy. Everyone knows and loves a Bob. Since I’m the opposite of those characteristics you note, I prefer to go by Robert. Or by my alter ego.
I only know one Greg. GregT. Is he nice?
My Greg-Bob wine used to be Ridge Geyserville. Bought in almost every vintage from 1991 forward. Everyone loves it, pairs with so many things. Apropos for July 4 BBQ as well.
It’s just not working for me like it once did. I still bought through 2016 but in much smaller quantities. Stopping buying Lytton and the Estate Cab as well. Part of it is the increased levels of new oak, the other part, perhaps accentuated more by the new oak, is my heightened dislike of American oak. Don’t buy many Riojas anymore, either.
My Greg-Bob wine could be a handful of things, but right now I’m thinking about Sociando Mallet. Rarely disappoints, almost always very enjoyable to excellent. Ages beautifully, too. Reminds me, I need to grab more 2014.
Now I get that not everyone likes Sociando, but many would say that about most of the stuff in my “cellar”. My wife thinks my taste in wine sucks.
This is a trap. You announce your love for Greg or Bob or whoever, then everyone tells you they used to be into Greg but have moved onto someone better and more obscure probably named Trevor or Esteban.
Goodfellow Family Cellars WV Pinot Noir has become the Bob wine are our house. It offends no one and pleases most everyone in certain ways… Except for Purple Drank napa cab drinkers and who complain and still drink it. Luckily we don’t have many of those visiting.
Sean
Sociando is so not a Greg wine. Mr. Often Mean-and-Green cannot be a Greg wine.
Renardat-Fache Cerdon du Bugey is a Greg wine. Impossible not to like from my experience. Can’t help but like it. Sweet-ish but not saccharine. Pink. Deep pink. Joy in a bottle.
Jayson, I agree with your description of Renardat-Fache. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the word “joy” is in every note I’ve written on a bottle of this glorious nectar. I just think it is too inspiring for the category f “Greg” wines. It isn’t a “Greg,” it is a vinous Michael Palin.
All of my wines are Greg wines.
I have Greg wines and my friends have Greg wines, but when we get together they become more like Jan and they don’t seem to fit in, always envious of Marcia, the wine you could of had.
A Greg wine is a unicorn. There is no one size fits all in the world of wine.
This brings a smile to my face, Bruce. When I was first exploring wine, I was immediately drawn to German Riesling, and I relied on Jamie Koren as my mentor. I conveyed my fondness for Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Spatlesen (the vintages then on the shelves were from the late '80s and early '90s), and Jamie responded by categorizing Erdener Treppchen as very “friendly.”
Though I still drink much German Riesling, I no longer find Loosen or Erdener Treppchen among my favored producers or vineyards.
Everyone knows Greg–he’s a warm, friendly guy, he’s
not pretentious, he gets along with everyone, etc. EVERYONE likes Greg.
Or so you would think, right?
But if you do a search, alas. You’ll find it’s not necessarily true!
MOST people like Greg because he’s more or less the walking embodiment of wonderful.
Some people may not have discovered that yet.
Why the hell can’t people spell “Craig?”
While I can see moving away from Loosen, who makes a great number of tasty but characterless wines, missing out on Treppchen is too bad. It’s a wonderful site in the right hands, and from the parcels that were not replanted. 80 year old Treppchen vines make magic.
Ha, well said. Although I am still going to play this game.
Several Cru Beaujolais wines could really be Greg wines for me, Chateau Thivin or Clos de la Roilette for sure.
In the Willamette Valley, Crowley WV Pinot Noir and Love and Squalor Pinot Noirs are always likeable and delicious.
Maybe not everyone’s Greg, but Baudry Chinons work for me.
…and I thought this thread was shameless plug for Envoyer?
What producer’s Treppchen do you like, David? Who is working with the 80-year-old vines? I think my most recent, best Treppchen was M.F. Richter’s 2015 Spatlese.
Greg and Bruce are archetypal Aussie names, so their wine would be Torbreck or Chris Ringland uncouth wine 
For me a long time ago it used to be Villa Creek, which for some reason every non wine geek seemed to love. Then it morphed to Carlisle, I eventually dropped as the insane value started to fade. At this point it’s mainly upper end Beaujolais which can still be found for $25-30.
I was always a big fan of the J. J. Christoffel Treppchen bottlings, but that estate is no longer recognizable. Meulenhof makes Treppchen “Alte Reben” bottlings from very old vines that escaped the replanting. While Meulenhof is not a top tier estate, the Alte Reben wines are quite delicious and inexpensive. They are a clear step up over the (getting back on form after some troubled years due to weather) rest of the Meulenhof range.
Carlisle immediately came to mind.
AJ Adam Dhroner Hoff. Kabinett has recently fit the bill for Riesling. I’ve recently even bought some magnums of it and I never buy magnums that dont say Saxum.