Some months ago I wrote about California wine maker, Randall Dunn, and his opposition to the high-alcohol wines that have come to characterize his region.
I was and am in agreement with him. It needn't be that way, and it didn't used to be that way. It comes down to pleasing Parker and the Wine Spectator, getting the high scores, leading the sheep to the pen. Then, you know, ca-ching ca-ching. Parker's disingenuous response to the argument is literally unbelievable.
The topic won't die. In The Pour Eric Asimov has published a commentary on an article by Corrie Brown in the LA Times. The comments are as interesting and conflicted as the attitudes and opinions described in the Corrie Brown story, which is entitled "Are California Wines over the Top?". The main focus of the article is wine maker Adam Tolmach, whose sentiments echo those of Randy Dunn.
I contributed comment #1 to The Pour posting. As I said, the varied points of view and heat in the comments are quite interesting. I have to say that I took exception to the sort of Luddite comments of #11. One of those "wine is for pleasure, why must you snobs overanalyse everything?" kinds of reactions. Look out for my as-yet unposted retort. Similar to one of those, "Shayna, you ignorant slut" comments that Dan Ackroyd used to deliver on SNL.
En bref: Stick to Old World wines. Italian for example.
I applaud Adam for shifting his winemaking style. Having more options for the consumer can only be a good thing. The stranglehold a few palates have on the wine industry simply makes the wines too similar and boring and destroys the whole point of having different brands. I wrote about this on Jan 9th.. I'm happy to say before Mr Asimov :)
Posted by: Amy | January 14, 2008 at 12:16 AM