That is really true. We had coffee with a grower today and 2 latte’s, 2 slices of quiche, a grilled cheese(a la cart), and a bowl of tomato soup were $57.
No fast food, everything was delicious but it was still $57 for a healthy snack or perhaps a very, very light lunch.
There are lots of good wines out there below $20, but these days ‘wines of interest’ are hard to find under $20 in the US. Most of the good sub-$20 wines are still made in significant quantity, and go through an ‘efficient’ process. Not saying gems don’t exist, just echoing that they are harder than ever to find under $20.
To me, this is a good example of why people hate wine snobs. Given that most wine (by volume) is under $30, to have a somm telling most people that their wine choices, which they probably like, suck ass won’t win any friends.
Totally, but I did agree with a couple points of his; the most important thing for a growing wine lover is, finding a good wine merchant, one you can call “yours”. Just like finding a great dentist, or doctor, or hairdresser. And I do think the Finger Lakes is one of the great stories of the last couple of years.
What bothered me was, I don’t know if I could trust the author as my wine merchant if he can’t find a decent bottle of wine for under $20.00. The truth of the matter is, ANYONE can find a great $50 bottle of wine. The art of a great wine merchant is finding a great wine under $20.00.
Yep. Including the title of the article: “If you want quality, don’t spend under $30 on a bottle.”
I’m guessing you didn’t read that part. Or the part where it says: “When you go to the store and you’re getting a wine that’s under $20, there’s a very good chance you’re looking at something that was mass produced and conventionally farmed with synthetic pesticides, fungicides, herbicides,” says Mark Osborn, lead sommelier at [SommSelect.”
One of my great pleasures every year is to pass through the Loire and hoover up local reds for well under €20. I can do exactly the same in Cahors, Languedoc, much of Spain, Etc. Whereas in a UK supermarket the original comment is probably fair. So my position has to be “It all depends on context.”
As I already posted that quote at the top of the thread, it is a completely reasonable statement for the masses. Go into one of any run of the mill stores that sell wine and you are almost guaranteed to get mass produced wine for under $20. We’ve all gotten those bottles as gifts from dinner guests.
You said my read of the story was “patently fictional” and accused me of not reading it. That’s what I was reacting to. It appears you’re now appropriately walking back that statement.
Yeah, sure, there’s lots of inexpensive wine that is objectively not good, and is made on an industrial scale. I’m not disputing that. My point is that blanket statements like the headline of the story and suggesting that most wines under $30 are filled with (metaphorical) crap only fuel the perception that wine lovers are snobs and jerks.
“you occasionally get very good bottles for cheap and pay exorbitant prices for wine that ends up being disappointing. By and large, though, he says, the $25 to $30 price point is where “things start breaking out, and you start to get some identity expression” in your wine.”
All the actual quotes from the somm are very sensible.
