JUST LIKE ANYONE, SOMMELIERS CAN’T TELL BAD WINE FROM THE GOOD
An old friend of mine came from a family that sold wine for 3 generations in the American northeast, and still does in New York City. This friend knew his wines, and taught me pretty much all I know about Man’s finest art. But one thing he tacitly taught me was that wine “experts” were still mortals when it comes to tasting and identifying wine. And sommeliers, or those experts at pairing wine with various cuisines, were no exception. At first this kind of shocked me. But it came to make sense to me the more I learned about wine, and what I liked. And it’s true; sommeliers, just like the rest of us, can’t really tell bad wine from the good.
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OVER AND OVER AGAIN, WINE “EXPERTS” HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT GOOD OR BAD WINE
There are numerous examples of this going back literally decades. In 1976, there’s the now famous Judgement of Paris, when French wine experts rated California wines (gasp!) as far superior to French wines in a blind tasting. Similar tasting travesties happened again and again in 1978, 1986 and 2006. It’s something my friend taught me about good and bad wine; it’s totally dependent on taste, mood and setting. In other words, a wine you love today may taste like vinegar when you’re in another mood or place. But a wine you never liked could also suddenly make the world a better place. That’s why wine is magical, liver function be damned.
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A BAD WINE IS SIMPLY A WINE YOU DON’T LIKE, BUT A GOOD WINE CAN BE TOTALLY AFFORDABLE
And then there’s the case of Rudy Kurniawan, who sold home-blended counterfeit wines to the most well-heeled consumers. He wasn’t found out for an appalling amount of time. So what is bad wine? Well, vinegar; wine that has literally turned bad. And good wine? Listen to your taste buds to find the answer, which will be different every day. You don’t have to spend $1,000 or even $50 to find a good wine. Most of my favorites, when I discover then at any rate, cost between $13-18 a bottle. And I kick myself every time for not quickly buying a couple cases, as their prices quickly jump in a season.
So if you have the wallet to be a snob, go for it! But just remember that like your nose, your wallet can’t tell the bad wine from the good, either.
