I anyone got PN from me on Bday, open the 13 Alderpoint and the 13 Ronda’s. Alderpoint is fruit that you can smell when the cork comes out. Ronda’s takes time to open up but rewards patience with savory, earthy, forest floor and mushroom with a hint of red cherry fruit. Sorry for the self promo, but it surprises me how different these two wines are.
While people love to shit on Darth Parker, he did pick Jeb to carry on his Rhone legacy, and Jeb generally gives favorable reviews to Washington wines that Cali-types would consider “lean,” Gramercy and Mark Ryan come to mind, so personally I think Parker gets somewhat of a bad rap. It’s tempting to argue he is old and his taste buds are shot, but physiologically I don’t think that argument holds up, does it?
I want to go back to the initial question of why (I) like AWFE wines. I think about the bold & flavorful “fruit bombs” as very obvious wines. It’s obvious that you’re smelling vanilla, mocha, and jammy black or red fruits. Why I like AFWE wines is that they require attention, thought, and i have to pay attention to the wine because it’s constantly shifting, with delicate whispers and nuances that stimulate a different part of my brain & other senses.
I certainly enjoy wines like that as well, though I’m not certain that there exists a strict dichotomy of AFWE vs. fruit bomb; that is, some voluptuous wines have exciting complexity, while some wines are thin and monolithic. Palate preferences dictating, of course.
Of course there isn’t. Though by a strict originalist interpretation an AFWE wine is any wine liked by someone who doesn’t like Mollydooker or other big Barossa Grateful Palate styled wines. Which is a pretty wide tent.
I disagree strongly with the binary categorization that seems to flow through this thread. Like “there is Caymus 40th on one hand and there is AFWE on the other hand.” There is a whole spectrum of styles, and a whole range of subcategories and quality all along the stylistic spectrum.
Many of the world’s greatest wines, such as DRC and Haut Brion, have both plenty of fruit and concentration, but also elegance, complexity and balance. Good wines at all price points rarely make you choose between “do I want there to be some fruit and ripeness, or do I want there to be complexity and elegance?”
I use the term AFWE as well, as I think it’s a playful and fun term, as well as a useful shorthand among those who know not to take it the wrong way. But the real answer is not to try to put wine into either of two buckets (AFWE or fruit bomb, traditional or modern, etc.), and try to learn to identify and appreciate the good and not-so-good qualities from producer to producer, grape to grape, site to site, wine to wine.
Or you can enjoy each wine for what it is.
On Sunday we had two wines:
An AFWE leaning CdP (traditional producer, older style, cooler), and a Cali Cab (also traditional producer, not over-modern style).
Anyway, we enjoyed both for what they were. One leaner and more stern. One more open and fleshy.
Yumyumyum.
That’s a pretty fair characterization. I have had both of these wines several times and find the Alderpoint immediately approachable, while the Ronda’s is more complex and intellectual.
AWFE is Margaret Atwood.
The fruit bombers are Jackie Collins.
On this thread:
Fruit bomers = Anton
AFWE = Everybody not named Anton
AFWE = Means it needs an explanation
Fruit Bomb = Just tastes good
- (I’ve worked in tasting rooms for over 10 years, and that’s the inside joke at all of them)
Good job Chris and Henry. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
As others have mentioned, it’s a term thrown out by Parker in a drunken tweet one night. That’s all. Doesn’t mean anything and it’s weird how people are now treating it like some kind of category that means something.
Bottom line - there is no such thing. Enjoy wine for what it is. If you think a wine sucks, that’s fine. A lot of them do. For many different reasons. But life isn’t binary and neither is wine.
AFWE is George Carlin.
The fruitbombers are Carrot Top.
I hope y’all are getting a better feel for this as I go.
AFWE is Star Trek, The Next Generation
The fruit bombers are Swamp Dwellers.
AFWE is F-1
The fruit bombers are Demolition Derby.
AFWE is the Sunday Times.
The fruit bombers are Wheelz and Dealz.
My work here is done.
Me is a “bomer.”
If I last more than 4 hours, it’s not unusual.
Next Generation? No way…
AFWE is James T. Kirk in black & white!
To spell it out a bit more fully than I think others have … Parker basically dissed people who don’t like the over-the-top style that is required to win a 93+ score from him these days by calling them/us as “the Anti-Flavor Wine Elite.” It was a pissy posting that seemed to reflect his resentment at the erosion of his influence – a lashing out at those who dared to question his palate preferences. Many of us took it as a badge of honor.
I think it’s too much to read terroir notions into it. It’s defined by exclusion. It’s kind of like the inverse of that famous scene in When Harry Met Sally: “I’ll NOT have what he’s having.”
Not anti-flavor. Anti-spoof, anti-overripe, anti-overoaked, anti-roasted, anti-raisined (except for wines that are supposed to be), anti-hot, anti-flab, anti-paingrillee, anti-chocolate/ blueberry/vanilla/cherry/cola/robitussin milkshake, anti-ooze, anti-tourdeforce, maybe. But not anti-flavor.
Not sure I perceive that level of binaralityness. We can talk about what “blue” and “yellow” mean without implying there aren’t a billion shades of green in between - or indeed reds completely outside that range, let alone mind-blowing plaids and paisleys. We can talk about AFWE and fruit bombs without being balance deniers.
It’s well and good that some folks can enjoy Saxum and Lopez de Heredia, but there’s nothing wrong with someone’s not being partial to a wine/winery/region/style/hemisphere. (Well OK, frankly I think there is something wrong with folks who don’t go in for Bourgueil, Brouilly, and Barbaresco… but I can live with that and with their choices, especially when it helps keeps many of my faves good & cheap.)
Fruit bomber = Ginger
AFWE = Mary Ann
AFWE = Jedi
Fruit bomber = Jar Jar
…and how does the IPOB crowd fall into this mess - have they parked their wagon about half way along the highway between AFWE and Parkerization, or more to one side?