fighting WINE SNOB haters

[jdmyers]

I was at a recent xmas gathering. This guy was going on and on about a wine party that he has were everyone brings a bottle of wine and tells a story about were its from and its origins and such. then they all taste and share. I thought great sign me up but when he heard i would be bringing my own wine he pretty much dismissed me as a know nothing hick. and ounce i said i made wine out of many things not just grapes well that sealed it I was officially a piece of white trash crap. I wanted to smash him over the head with his own overpriced crappy wine but instead i took the high road. I when to my house and brought back about 5 gallons of dragon blood. in about 1/2 hour the entire party was converted even the beer drinkers became wine people. several people offered to fund my next batches or purchase all that I could supply. Taste buds don't lie good wine is good no matter if it comes from the south of france or a basement in pittsburgh

 

[Runningwolf]

JD home winemakers get a bad rap for good reasons. In the past there has been so much bad wine made at home and there still is. I also use to have wine parties in the past and I was also a wine snob. I sent out invitations and right on the invitation it said "No Commercial Wine". Home winemakers have come a long ways, especially with forums like this around. I think a great deal of us on this forum have made believers out of those who doubted home made wine in the past.

Now I'll let you on on another little discovery. There is also a lot of "bad" commercial wine on the market.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I was officially a piece of white trash crap....been there done it.
I love tricking the wine snobs....Just happened the other day...someone brought over a wine, and boasted about paying 20 bucks for this fine wine...it tasted like crap to me...while he was in the bathroom i opened and poured one of my peach blush bottles...and told him to try it..
He said it was very good, but would not pay more then 20 bucks for it.
I said good, because i made it, and my cost is about 1.90.....lol

 

[jamesngalveston]

Runningwolf, I have a lliquor store that I patron all the time. There must be 5 to 6 thousand bottles of wine....How in the world could anyone really pick one ....amazing to me....the owner is a friend of mine...He said that 90 percent of the wine buyers have not tasted the wine they buy..
He stated usually if its a wine someone has bought and liked, they buy 2 are 3 each time.
For what its worth.

 

[jdmyers]

Yeah It does amaze me that people taste buds are effected by the price tag its like they feel like they have to like it if its more $$

 

[Julie]

JD, I'll be sending you a pm next spring/summer when I have my next wine party. Bring your wines to drink, bring your wines to trade. There are a handful of us on here that try to get together a couple times a year.

And I am glad you didn't let them discourage you into going and getting your wines to share with them.

 

[NoSnob]

Good for you JD! Nothing succeeds like success.

My friends all seem to like my wine. I have never made claims that it is good, great, or indifferent. I just let them decide. Same for classes I have taught in home winemaking. I describe the varietal, its source and age and let them experience it for themselves. It sometimes comes as a surprise to me that occasionally they greatly like wine that I am not particularly fond of. And wine that I really like is not necessarily their preference. I believe our taste buds (and our capabilities in expressing what we taste) vary from person to person.

Maybe more importantly, we all come to the tasting table with widely varying background and experience in what we prefer and what we are familiar with. Then too, let's face it, the enjoyment of wine is highly dependent upon its context. If you want people to like your wine, be sure it's served in a fun atmosphere with no pressure to like anything you serve. For example, I might say this is a very full-bodied red and I know you prefer something milder, but try it and see what you think.

I like for my friends to be able to try my wine as a learning experience. Sometimes my initial pour is very small to get their reaction. I tell them they don't have to like my wine. That takes a lot of pressure off. The other substantial variable is what appetizers or food is served with it: makes a huge difference!

IMO it all adds up to this: we are our own experts about what we like.

NS Here

 

[jamesngalveston]

Well said....The other substantial variable is what appetizers or food is served with it: makes a huge difference!
THats why i make a lot of dragon blood, its good after cutting grass, are hanging at the pool, are a backyard bbq....no qualms, no pairing, just drinking.

 

[dangerdave]

I love Dragon Blood conversion stories. Nice job, jd!

 

[digitaleye]

Very cool stories! For me, I live in a well known wine-making region and you can easily go into just about any supermatket (let alone wine store) and find a very decent bottle for $20 or less. That sets the bar fairly high for home wine making.. but hey that makes us create better wine

 

[dangerdave]

I need to make a new label for my next batch of Dragon Blood, and call it "SNOB REMOVER".

 

[Runningwolf]

I need to make a new label for my next batch of Dragon Blood, and call it "SNOB REMOVER".

 

[dangerdave]

I see potential, Dan!

 

[BernardSmith]

Always the contrarian, here's my 1.5 cents worth: Of course there are wine snobs just as there are people who turn their nose up at anything from ski shoes to rappers, and from porn to popcorn but just like some movies are crap and some novels are garbage and some prime time TV is rubbish some movies, novels and prime time TV are great. That some folk love the garbage and cannot get enough of it says nothing about the quality that can be and is sometimes produced. That some folk are disinterested in nuance and prefer simple brush strokes says nothing about the rich prize of the more complex.
That some folk reject garbage for what it is is one thing. That some folk reject some things as garbage because of what they ASSUME it to be is quite another. Being able to see or find the pattern or picture in the chaos of the background noise is what differentiates the expert from the novice. The novice holds up the chaff as the picture. The expert is able to find the picture buried in the chaff. The expert can help you see the picture that you mistook for chaff and can show you why the chaff is not the real thing. If you still prefer the chaff after that then that is your business.
There is snobbery that puffs itself up as expertise and then there is the child who sees that the emperor is stark naked, but there is also the emperor who is dressed in exquisite robes. There is , in other words, an expertise that punctures snobbery. Just because self-proclaimed experts tend to be butt naked does not mean that those viewed as experts by their peers are also dressed only in their birthday suits...

 

[GreginND]

Just wondering why one would fight wine snob haters.

 

[Rocky]

This is one of the reasons that I no longer enter wine competitions. Personally, I don't care what "experts" think of my wine because my family, friends and I like it. To me, it is a matter of taste and that differs widely from person to person. My question is, If an "expert" says a wine is great and I don't like it, is it great? I would say, "Not to me." Conversely, if I like one of my wines and an "expert" says it is crap, should I stop making it? Again, I say "No!"

I am always a little skeptical when it comes to "experts." I recall some years ago that some "art experts" or "critics" were shown a number of "modern art" paintings by anonymous artists. The experts came up with a variety of descriptions of the intent of the artist, what was in his or her mind when he or she did the painting, the troubled life that they had experienced, the subtle message displayed in the art, etc. After their assessment, they were shown a video of the artist completing the paintings. It was a group of monkeys, literally throwing paint at the canvases.

 

[Turock]

This is the main reason why all of us make our own wine---because you can make better wine than you can buy!! A GOOD home winemaker will always produce something better than what can be bought in a store.

Imagine a commercial winery making an all juice fruit wine--they'd have to charge $50.00 for it!!

Around here, many people have had our wines because we've been doing it for so long. And you'd be amazed how many people call and come to the door at the holidays to get some of our wine for parties and to give away to their friends for gifts!! I think that's a testimony to all home winemakers.

 

[Elmer]

"contempt prior to investigation"

Anyone with a pallet for wine, will try anything, and judge that wine on its content.
Anyone who only drinks something with a specific price tag is pretentious!

There is good wine at varying prices!
There is whiskey at $100 does not mean it is better than $14 bird dog!!!!

I just handed out some SP, DB and cheap kit Cab Franc to some distant family members who usually drink $50 bottles of Cab and $70 scotch.

They love what I make, because it is a break from the norm.

You cant watch an oscar worthy flick every night.
Sometimes you have to watch a pop corn flick!

 

[BernardSmith]

Just wondering why one would fight wine snob haters.

Because snobbery is puffed up ignorance. You don't hate it.. You deflate it. And if you have the inclination and/or the time, you educate the snob.

 

[JohnT]

This is where you went wrong, You should only say that it is home-made AFTER they taste it.

We had a church thing called "gathering group". This is where we took turns hosting dinner for one another. I was asked to bring some wine.

Well, I am not a big believer in labels. They always seem more trouble than they are worth. So the bottles I brought had no labels on them.

I remember watching this one guy who could talk a good game when it cam to wine. He was definitely a wine snob (and this coming from me!)
He took a sip, smiled, then went to look a the label on the bottle. All I said to him was "don't you just hate when the labels fall off"? He had no idea.