When does a wine become "baller" status?

WINE TALK
1

Is there some price point, percieved or real, for this?

Does it have to be a first growth from France or cult wine from America?

Rare, ultra rare, etc?

Does a certain critic have to bless it 100 points or several critics?

2

When you are under 30 and it’s the greatest wine you have ever had -

3

Price point. For me, $250.

4

When you can pit that wine against a bunch of other high status wines and it “wipes the floor” with the other wines, “kicks their ass,” or, “blows the others away,” making it wine of the night, wine of the flight or wine of the year. When you don’t just like it, but LOVE it, when it isn’t just a fine pairing for a meal, but makes you say, “wow.” It needs to be a “wow” wine. Needs to both stand on it’s own and stand out when consumed with a bunch of other wine with which it is competing for attention. Definitely must be difficult to get for some reason. Prohibitively expensive, on tight allocation to mailing lists only, high rating made it scarce and drove up the price, or all three.

So, its a rare, highly rated, expensive, pit-bull of a wine you can drink without food and makes you say, “wow.”

At least, that’s what I’ve gathered.

I also think “baller” has entered the lexicon in many ways, some of them meant to be ironic, not to be taken seriously. Sort of like mock-heroic.

So, someone who “gets it” can enjoy those kinds of wines ironically, if you know what I mean.

If you’re really cool, you can use the word both sincerely and ironically, but never meaning the same thing that the less cool do when they use it.

If you know what I mean.

5

purchase price or market value?

6

If you have to ask…

7

Brett Favre

8

No, I think his name is Jonathan.

9

To answer the question…when it is something I can’t afford?

10

If you’re really cool, you can use the word both sincerely and ironically, but never meaning the same thing that the less cool do when they use it.

WTF? [scratch.gif]

Not quite sure what that means but it sure sounds cool - kind of baller in its own way if there could be such a thing.

11

Wine becomes baller when you have to ask yourself: can I afford to open this bottle.

12

Only when a dribbler would drink it

13

The value of a wine opened/drank/whatever would never define a “baller”. To achieve such “status” the would be “baller” would never consider the value/price when popping bottles. They would drink/open whatever they wanted and share graciously without consideration for value/price/prestige because that’s what they wanted to drink.

14

With apologies to Justice Stewart: I shall not today attempt further to define the wines I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [“baller”], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it…

15

and yes, the latter would fit my definition…

16

Immediately.

17

When you’re using both the wine and the term “baller” to make a social observation.

Interestingly, I don’t recall “baller” being bandied about on any thread relating to 1-2 wines only?

18

I thought Baller was a description of a night spent drinking much lumber- i.e. baller refers to an event, lumber to a specific wines.

19

how about if the wine is sick? Would a sick baller be even better? Teach this old man. When I see sick ballers, it means STD.

20

When bragging about the wine gives you more pleasure than drinking it.