Muscadet = Dishwater
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Could we please start to call virtue signalling as used here “grandstanding” or something of the sort. Real virtue signalling on the part of animals and humans, according to certain theories in evolutionary biology, enacts some virtue to enhance social standing or attract a mate, but it is, according to the theory, one of the evolutionary bases of all moral action. In other words, according to the theory, when you act morally, you are always virtue signalling. That is not what you all mean here. Just another one of my hills I won’t die on.
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This reminds me of when my younger daughter first tasted uni. She loved sushi in general and said the uni tasted “like the finest dishwater.” I believe it was intended as a compliment.
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Uni plus Muscadet - sounds good to me!
I get it!
Pour the Muscadet in the ocean and let the sea urchin consume it. 
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Dishwater will give you the runs, same as uni 
That was my X Novo! Knocked the socks off every one at the tasting. 2021s are special and the nose on this wine is a marvel - I sort of brought it to prove a point because I knew there would be a lot of Burghounds there. I was also informed by a few folks that I really need to take Richard’s Cuvee for a spin. 
Also to be fair the vineyards X Novo and X Omni are fairly well known but I feel like most people have only heard of Walter Scott and maybe 1 or 2 other producers that produce the vineyards, but this wine is still relatively unknown in broader wine circles.
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I’d have to disagree - great, absolute delicious wines have been made in California at less than 13% for probably its entire winemaking history. I’m by no means a low-abv die-hard, but I honestly don’t think it’s that difficult in many regions to produce wines that taste ‘complete’ at that lower ABV - it just requires approaching the viticulture & winemaking with a different mindset. Monterey, various parts of Sonoma and Mendocino, Sierra, Lodi; I have had fabulous wines from all these places that come in under 13%, and I wouldn’t change a thing about them. More whites, but reds included in there as well.
Still, I suppose I might agree with you that, if someone’s goal is “low-alcohol” and not “delicious & expressive,” then yeah, those wines are essentialy subject to the same issues as making a wine with “high alcohol” in mind.
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You do not like NV Charles Heidsieck Brut (the $50ish bottle), correct? I can definitely see a pattern.
That’s true. New stars are born from time to time. But today and with the internet, these secrets are not secrets for long… just look at the secondary market prices for William Kelley’s or Domain Guilbert Gillet wines.
You’re not wrong about that. 
But it does seem like there are good and interesting wines to be found at “unfashionable” addresses: Marsannay / Audoin, Auxey / Lafouge, Corton / Mallard.
In Fixin I think of Gelin and Berthaut-Gerbet. Neither is new but their Fixins findable and reasonable.
I’m not knowledgeable about Rully, Macon, and others, but surely the next Guffens or Dureuil-Janthial is out there somewhere.
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2021s really are fabulous, I love the vintage and some true highlights for WV Chardonnay are from that vintage. I also like 2019s, and for us the 2023 Richard’s as well. Though both 2019 and 2023 are below 12% there is still so much drive to the wines and plenty of texture.
Craig Williams has really hit it out of the park with X-Novo and X-Omni. Both vineyards produce beautiful and singular wines.
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I was surprised to learn how young the X-Novo and X-Omni vines are compared to some other great Oregon vineyards.
100%.
That was what jumped out to me as well. When I first had Ken and Erica’s (Walter Scott) X-Novo it was fifth leaf fruit and still produced a remarkable wine. It keeps getting better as the years pass as well.
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all great wine was cheap (or shall we say appropriately valued) at some point in time. new producers starting out with aspirational price points that are way above the average for a given appellation have perhaps put the horse before the cart.
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Idk, first offer for the 20 Kelley GC etelois was pretty pricey, now I regret not taking everything I was offered though.
Just passing along what I’ve heard anecdotally from producers, but I’ve heard that vine age in Chardonnay is less important than in Pinot. The skin contribution to the wine is lower.
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That we heathens who drink wine outside of a meal are just trying to get drunk and it’s impossible to enjoy wine unless you’re eating…yak-palpated morons! And, to @Jonathan_Loesberg 's point, “I only drink wine with food…” is grandstanding. Noted.
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Another one: knowing the producer and consequently knowing how much a wine cost or about its reputation / mystique CAN actually enhance the enjoyment of said wine.
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IDK, you might be thinking of some very specific grandstanders in your own social circle. But I wouldn’t project that onto the broader population of people who prefer to drink wine with food.
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