"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
16 March 2007Quote of the week (reserve)Of course, should the original Quote of the Week be unable to fulfill its duties, said duties will devolve upon this one. Steph Waller, researching box wines:
I'm darned tired of wine snobbery. Wine should taste good. It's that simple. You don't need to know how to swirl a glass, or inhale the vapors as the wine sits on your tongue (that little pantomime makes you look like a demented fish, anyway). All you need to know is, do you like it? If not, it's a bad wine. If so, it's a good wine. And who the hell cares how much it costs?
Waller is working on a book on this very subject. Posted at 7:31 AM to QOTWBy that logic, if somebody likes the way pink zinfandel tastes than it too is a good wine. But, there's NO WAY that pink zinfandel could be a "good wine." Nope. No possible way. Whether or not it comes from a box... That being said...there are good box wines out there (Black Box) that I have enjoyed. Posted by: Dwight at 8:22 AM on 16 March 2007Which, of course, suggests a question: does anyone actually like pink zin? "I like Bach, you like Hindemith. He likes Fritz Loewe. I have good taste. You are misled. And he is a fool." Bravo for Steph Waller, whoever she is! One of the great delights of my life was the discovery, over Columbus Day 2004, of Bully Hill Winery in Hammondsport, NY. They unabashedly make and sell wines intended to be popular -- to appeal to folks who want wine that tastes good rather than something that must be swirled, sniffed, swished, chewed, and "appreciated" while determinedly resisting the urge to vomit. I wish the winery were here on Long Island; I'd probably shop nowhere else. Their tasting room is always jammed to the rafters, and their retail store does business as if it were giving away money. And do you know what they called the wineries elsewhere along Lake Keuka, several of which have won all manner of international competitions with their noxious decoctions? Wine snobs! And by the way, I do like white and pink zinfandels. They taste good and go down easily. What more does anyone want? To be tormented by tannin? Irritated by acidity? Haunted by the "oaky-smoky" vapors from some 300 year old fermentation vat that's probably home to an unbelievable variety of none-too-friendly microorganisms? Y'all can have it. Give me Almaden, and Taylor, and Bully Hill. Bottle, box, or goatskin. And save the self-flattering crap. |