Yeah, I know right? 

There’s an upside to more and more wine being made more and more in an “international” style by more and more producers in more and more regions?

Yes, there is.  Yes, I’m serious.  No, I haven’t been drinking too much wine while writing this.

First, we need to explain what the “international” style is, which essentially is the advent in recent years of big, extracted, jammy, heavily-oaked, high-alcohol wine (both red and white).  Robert Parker, who is the “1” in the 1 and 1/2 of the wine critics that move the majority of the wine market (Jim Laube at Wine Spectator is the “1/2”), likes the style and awards it high scores, which in turn allow producers of those styles to charge higher prices and then the market takes over to influence other producers to follow suit when making their wines so that they can sell more and charge more, etc., etc., blah-blah-blah. 

The result, according to the detractors, is wine going the way of fast food, like McDonald’s taking over small family restaurants in Europe; everything becomes the same and we lose regional originality.

The whole phenomenon was more-or-less lambasted in the film Mondovino, which if you haven’t seen it yet, will give you a crash course in all things “style international du vin.”

Go ahead and watch it.  I’ll wait.

Done?  Okay, cool, let’s get back to what’s right about the Disney-ification and McDonald’s-ization of the modern wine market…

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Who’s a Big Winner today?

YOU’RE a Big Winner today.

No doubt that the wide world of wine media is awash in well-weathered year-end recaps (not too mention consonation!), with thoughts about the wines and wine-related happenings of a 2009 that has nearly gone by.  While I enjoy the year-end recap thoughts as much as the next guy or gal, I’m not going to provide another look-back wine list or article review, mostly because I already have those posts published and can’t fool you into reading another one because you’re too smart.

No, I just want to tell you how lucky you are this year, wine-wise anyways.

Yeah, YOU.  You’re one lucky S.O.B.

Look at it this way: Was 2009 perfect when it comes to wine?  Of course not.  But consider this:

You have access to more wine of higher quality and for lower prices than at any other time in the history of the world. 

You also have access to more sources of quality information about wine (and all aspects of how it is made, distributed, etc.) than ever before.

So, you not only can get great wine for a great price, you also can gain as much knowledge about wine as you’re hungry for, at almost no cost to you.

Think about that for a second.  Most of you reading this have more opportunity when it comes to wine than your parents ever dreamed of.  Unless you’re like 14.  In which case, you should know that I do not have reviews of Peppermint Schnapps on this website.  And no, I am not going to buy some for you at the liquor store down the street.  Look, kid, just buzz off already, will ya?!?

The cherry-on-top of this have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too scenario is that the price of entry for your say in the growing wine conversation (which can positively influence where the wine industry goes in 2010 and beyond) is approximately $0.00.  In short, you have a wealth of wine knowledge available at your fingertips, and as they told you at the end of the G.I. Joe cartoons in the mid-eighties, "Now you know, and knowing is half the battle."  And knowledge, as we all know (ha-ha!), is power.

In other words, who’s the big winner after the wine trials, tribulations, travails, and victories of 2009?  YOU are, my friend, you are.

So, as we draw the curtain on 2009, take a moment to toast yourselves, as you are potentially the most powerful influencer of the future of wine.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

(images: bargreatharry.com)

I have seen the future of wine criticism, wine dialog, and wine expertise.

Wanna see it?  Great – go look in the mirror. Because the future wine experts look an awful lot like you.  You look great, by the way – did you cut your bangs?

A little over a week ago, Slate.com ran a piece penned by Mike Steinberger in which Steinberger, among other things (like skillfully recapitulating the recent kerfluffle over code of ethics violations on the part of Robert Parker’s staff, and ending sentences with prepositions), offers a glimpse of what he sees as the future of wine writing and wine experts:

“Like other journalistic niches, wine writing is in crisis at the moment… We are moving from a monologue to a dialogue, and this reflects a fundamental truth about wine: It is a matter of taste, and taste differs from one person to the next. There’s still a need for expert opinion, but authority is going to have to be worn a lot more lightly going forward, and it isn’t going to command quite the deference that it used to.”

I know what you’re thinking: Did Joe actually use the word kerfluffle? Also, what’s the big deal about that?  This post isn’t about blogging, is it?

Don’t worry, this post is not about blogging.  It’s about you, and (albeit tangentially) about how Steinberger might have gotten it just a bit wrong.

You see, wine writing isn’t in a state of crisis, unless you get paid for it, in which case it’s in no more a state of crisis than any other form of paid journalism – welcome to 2009, folks.  If you’re a consumer of wine information, on the other hand, then wine writing is actually in a state of liberation.

I think Steinberger is right on the money when he says that tastes are ultimately personal, and that there will still be a need for expert opinion – he’s just missing the point of where that opinion is, which is of course with YOU. That’s because YOU are the new wine expert…

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