In my mind the product and the person behind it are closely linked. If someone gets too whacky about their politics, I would probably have to pass on their wine. There’s always another good wine to buy. Why support someone who makes you feel uneasy?
I own a business and I try my hardest to never mix business and politics.
I don’t necessarily agree with the politics of everyone I buy from. And I don’t necessarily stop talking to people who have a different political view or views, even though these days if you like one thing out of column A, you have to like the entire column and can’t associate with someone who doesn’t.
If someone were really obnoxious I would change my buying. I don’t care if someone voted for or worked and campaigned for Trump or Hillary - I have friends and family who did both and I don’t and won’t hate them for either, nor stop being close, much less stop being civil.
But if someone did something really obnoxious, like set fire to other people’s property in an attempt to protest something they were unhappy about, I wouldn’t support that person’s business. I wouldn’t go to that woman who kicked Sarah Huckabee Sanders out of the restaurant, and I stopped going to a barber who complained because a few black guys had come in earlier for haircuts.
Don’t know the politics of any wine makers off the top, other than some Hungarians and their concerns are fairly local.
Great post as always. I don’t mind divergent political views from mine and even where I disagree completely, I would support a business that in most cases supports more than just the person i disagree with. If a person is a jerk about their views or intolerant of others choices and opinions I would probably go elsewhere.
See post #22. And unfortunately that describes several producers on this site. I will never buy, sell or drink their wine again. In fact, I was poured a glass from one of these producers last week and dumped it down the sink. MM, I and several others have been savaged repeatedly, so I hope you enjoy the wines but, no thanks.
It seems Festivus has arrived early this year.
I know the proper ritual for tasting a wine, what is the designated procedure for flamboyant displays of pouring out a wine made by someone we don’t like?
One hand out straight, holding the glass over the sink and the other perhaps held in flamenco position?
What utterance does one make? “To the pits of Hell I pour thee!”?
Do we berate other drinkers who don’t follow our lead, or mope and say, “Fine, don’t pour it out. See if I care, But I just don’t know how you can live with yourself.”
What is the person who poured us the taste supposed to do, watch us pour out the wine he/she just served?
A whole new area of wine etiquette has just been birthed!
Enlighten me, I haven’t a clue what you are talking about.
Well said, and I agree completely.
I do make allowances for some friends whose past life experience gives reasonable cause for more urgent concern- but even so, they are passionate and articulate in their political expression, and not obnoxious.
And when it comes to my making a decision to stop supporting someone’s business, that rule applies to people on both sides of the aisle. It is not the views that trouble me when things get that far, but what I see as a general lack of maturity and a refusal to respect the professional demands of running a good business. It is a sign that other things may be amiss (and often they are.)
On the winemaker side- despite being FB friends with quite a few in addition to personal acquaintances, I cannot think of any winemaker who has even come close to making me sever ties over politics. Premox on the other hand (not the existence of it- but how it is being addressed. Free hint- slapping your employees in the face is like slapping the people who spend a fortune on your wines)…
However, I have cut some ties- and observed a lot of borderline social media commentary in many more cases- with regards to people on the wholesale, distribution and retail side.
Interesting that- perhaps being separated a degree or two from the actual making of the product keeps one a degree or two away from the deep-felt passion for the product itself and ensuring that any potential customers are made to feel welcome.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to throw fire and walk away, I’ve been working an event all night.
Right around the election, Chris decided to post some pretty unseamly things on Facebook, it created a stir within the local wine community leading a couple of the females in the business to think about him differently and not in the best light.
People tend to forget, that even though Walla Walla is a nice destination for wine it’s also really red with some offputting views…
(I’m being obtuse because the information is out there, I don’t want to slander the family as I think they are good people, it seems Chris went overboard and tried to backtrack but it didn’t go over well)
Not nearly so dramatic. That must be a West coast thing. Dump, rinse and move to next wine.
I sense your sarcasm here, but I can only imagine that the whole point would be for the wine to never make it far enough that it’s in your glass. The winemaker you disagree with already has the money from that bottle regardless of what ya do with it at that point.
There’s a politics forum??? News to me. Todd and the moderators seem to scrub every and all reference to politics with a fine tooth comb and throw the louse out. I’ve only ever seen The Assylum, and that is as whitebread as they come.
As stated in the OP, this inquiry is not limited to those winemakers with whom you are in disagreement politically. It includes those winemakers who demonstrate a level of anger with their vitriolic, ad hominem attacks directed towards those with whom they disagree.
Don’t think politics should be supressed. Civilized discourse should be possible, no matter what one’s views are. Loved Malcom Forbes (Sr.) motto: “with all thy getting, get understanding”. I’m Swiss and am “Rediscovering Americanism” Which happens to be a great read.
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It’s hardly ever appropriate to get into personal attacks over politics, wine, whatever. But people do, especially online. I think it reflects poorly on all involved, ITB or not.
I participate in the Politics group sometimes. Am I worried about a negative impact on my business? No. I fine with people knowing where I stand and ideally say - I agree, or disagree, but he seems reasonable.
Regarding the point about how it’s more important to one poster how a business treats its workers, I completely agree. Sometimes though, the politics involve people like those who largely tend the vines and certainly pick the grapes for all of us. When politics threaten how people in our industry fare, you damn better be sure I’m going to speak up.
And if you spout utter bullshit as the leader of a nation, what the heck is someone to do but speak up. Croatia didn’t win the World Cup or the Cavaliers didn’t win the NBA Finals. When people claim down is up, how do you stay silent?
That’s where I stand on this.
The OP is looking for people to join him in boycotting a couple of winemakers.
That’s all this is about.
I recently purchased two different wines of one of the worst offenders. If winemakers are good with their obnoxious behavior, they ought to be willing to stand behind it in front of a broader audience.
Trolls will do as trolls do.