The Wine Spectator 100 is out. Time for the Wine Berserkers top xx threads and themes of 2025!

WINE TALK
1

Feel free to add your nominations.

  • Indulge me in my rant about a delivery screw-up by [pick one:] FedEx/UPS.
    • Subtopic: Which is worse, FedEx or UPS?
  • How to cheat customs out of duty when returning to the US after purchasing wine abroad.
  • Indulge me while I moan about how I can’t buy the trophy wines of my youth for the same price I could in 1985 (even inflation-adjusted)?
  • Travel shock: You’d have to be an idiot to believe [pick one:] it’s a thing / it’s not a thing.
  • Should I sign up for this new $xxx California wine I haven’t tasted that’s made by a winemaker who has won a lot of points for his/her wines in the past?
    • Subtopic: Even though they charge $200 a case shipping.
  • Bordeauxs of old were much better than those since 2000.
    • Subtopic: Current Bordeauxs are so much better than those in old times.
  • Guess how many bottles of [pick one:] Armand Rousseau / Krug / _____ I [pick one:] own / have drunk this year.
  • My wine was shipped when it was [fill in:] ___ degrees. Should I be worried about [pick one] freeze damage / heat damage?
  • Have you marked your calendar for [fill in:] ______ winery’s release date?
  • How many bottles were you allocated by [fill in:] ______ winery?
    • Subtopic: Indulge me while I gloat about the generous [fill in:] ___ bottle allocation I received from [fill in:] ______ winery. How few did you poor suckers get?
  • Let’s make malicious fun of wine critics’ tasting notes.
15 Likes
2

Hey! Isn’t this the same list as last year?

2 Likes
3

What bottle of [wine brand I’ve never heard of] did you open tonight?

1 Like
4

You want innovation for the sake of innovation? Some topics are eternal.

1 Like
5

“This anecdote explains why young people (anyone under 40) aren’t into wine.”

See also: The real problem at the heart of the wine industry slump is: cannabis, [esoteric restaurant complaints], pricing, cocktails, temperance boogeymen, gatekeeing, etc etc.

7 Likes
6

How could I leave out:

  • How can I drink to excess and not suffer from a hangover? (Note: Special opportunity to mention trophy wines you drank while testing various hangover prevention strategies.)
4 Likes
7

Let me get out from the pallets of DN and CamX blocking me access to my laptop so I can respond properly to this.

6 Likes
8

This one for me. And here I was thinking WB was the one place on the internet I could go to escape people trying to sell me supplements

1 Like
9

“How my anecdotal experience at the airport proves the tariffs aren’t real.”

2 Likes
10
  • Paywalled article
5 Likes
11

Who is Gordon Fitz?

13 Likes
12

Nothing about corkage?

13

Points are meaningless. WOW! X wine got [fill in:] ___ points! Can’t wait for my delivery.

Anyone know how I can get special treatment at [fill in:] ___ winery? I don’t want to be treated like the hoi polloi.

How long do I have to wait to get on the list for a wine that I have never tasted and won’t drink for 20 years.

5 Likes
14

• Would you work with a sommelier who doesn’t recognize a famous Bordeaux?

• When you host a gathering do you hide a bottle to only serve to those who will appreciate it?

2 Likes
15

No, last year’s was 2024.

2 Likes
16

Tipping on wine service. This has fallen under corkage as well.

17

@Dave_H beat me to the punch about the youth and wine.

Topics:

  • Wine is only worth cellaring if you can buy a case of it.
  • I don’t know why Dad cellared this, or why he didn’t drink this in its prime (Tales From The Crypt, @David_Bu3ker).
  • I want to start a winery from scratch, what should I know?
3 Likes
18

Mandatory helicopter landing pad

5 Likes
19

An inexplicable omission.

20

A wine can only be considered great if you can age it for decades and decades . . .

3 Likes