I guess the issue I really have with the article is that it is feeding people some talking points without a lot of context. I would say that if someone is truly interested in learning more about wine, the first thing to do would be to read some articles or books about basic winemaking techniques and theory, then take that to the winery and use that to frame questions.
I’ve been pretty shocked by the reactions to this article and the further doubling down. The way this is posted is more beyond usefulness than the source article is.
It’s clearly an article to give people who don’t know jack about wine something more interesting and more importantly, on point to ask than whether the wineries whites are sweet or how they get the flavors into the wines. You can quibble with her approach but the author was generally trying to be useful. They may not be all questions I would tell newbs to ask but these are fine. Trying to paint them as laughable or problematic is to take a juvenile attitude about all of it.
The only problematic part I see in it is suggesting that harvest is a great time to go to wine country. Unless all you really want to talk to are tasting room staff.
Congratulate yourself on knowing more than the pleebs who might find the article useful but it’s not a good look.
Studying before a weekend drinking with friends in wine country? Would you force kids study the history of animation before going to Disneyland too?
No, certainly not. I would give them a list of 4 or 5 simple questions to memorize and blurt out.
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Are you really a mermaid?
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Mickey, why don’t you speak? Are you mad at me?
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How come the fire never burns up the Pirates ride?
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How do I get the ghost to not follow me home?
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Why is a Monte Christo sammich 27 dollars?
Bonus: Are we really soaring over California?
Done and done!
If someone’s just doing some weekend wining, they should do that, and not try to fake erudition. That’s fine, nothing wrong with just hitting some wineries.
On the other hand, if someone really wants to learn more about winemaking, they should do some reading first, to have a theoretical foundation. Parroting some questions from an article, without knowing what they really mean, won’t be very useful.
Your kids will be traumatized for life if they have to memorize questions to ask the Disney people!
But why pretend? That’s the problem with the article.
It was a way for the author to show off a little bit, and may contain some information for people who don’t know, which is the majority of the planet, but if you are one of those people, it would be absolutely dumb to ask those questions without any idea of what the answers might mean. You’d be set up as a doof.
“Do you make your rosé by direct press, or saignee?” Answer - “Neither. We blend.” Questioner’s response - blank look. Or what if the answer was “Saignee”? Questioner’s response - “Oh.”
Why not just ask how they make their rosé and learn something?
“Are you doing any whole cluster this year?” Answers - “No”. Questioner’s response - “Oh.”
Then what? How is a yes or no supposed to help the questioner if the questioner has no idea what the whole point is? I know jack about whole cluster. Every time I think I find it I’m wrong. Last weekend I was asking a wine maker about it and he told me something I’d never heard before. The most uncomfortable thing I could have done was to pretend that I knew what I was talking about when it was his field, not mine.
If someone is a total newbie it’s unfair to set them up with questions like these. Natural curiosity is all anyone needs. In general, people like to talk about their work and I’ve never met a winemaker who was unwilling to talk about it. But you can spot pretense and phonies pretty quickly and advising someone to act like a phony is to me, bad advice. She should have just told people to ask questions to which they don’t know the answers.
And that’s not being snarky.
Pretty much a +1 from me. Harvest is the worst time to visit, imo.
I do think the questions suggested are pretty stupid, but whatever … they’re also harmless. The suggestion to taste a grape is an interesting one.
I strongly agree with everyone who has suggested just being comfortable, relaxed, honest, and humble. Wine is one of those topics where Faking It is going to go very bad very quickly, so just don’t do it.
The article included a short paragraph or two after each question that I thought added enough context to allow for a follow-up response that could start a conversation. If the winery staffer doesn’t have the time, knowledge, or interest in educating a visitor expressing interest, that’s hardly on the visitor. Except the part about visiting during harvest. Not when I’d advise someone to go.