In my previous post I spoke a bit about the book Wine Trials. I know this is old news but it still gets to me a little. This book brings to light two glaring factors that must change in order for us to begin to move away from the bastardization and homogenization of wine. The first is that we must change the way we as consumers approach wine. Find producers who are picking for balance, striving to let the land speak, and then let the wine choose its own course. Once you have found these wines approach the wine as a student seeking to understand the tastes and flavors, even if they are at first difficult to appreciate and comprehend.The whole point of terrior is that all wines should taste different. This means that there will be wines you like as well as wines you dislike, but that does not mean the wine you like is a good wine and the wine you dislike a bad wine...it is simply a DIFFERENT wine. That was the main point of my last column.
The second point is that there is no longer a correlation between price and quality. There is a symbiotic relationship between the consumer and the winemaker. This relationship over the years has been damaged by greedy men and corporations seeking to produce the next "cult" wine and rape the American wine consumer to fatten their own pocket. If this rift is ever going to be repaired winemakers must start charging reasonable prices for their wines. Below is a great article I discovered that breaks down exactly what it costs to make a $100 bottle of wine. Taken from the website Vine Sugar I would like to thank Brendan for this truth.