I start my lectures largely the same way every time. I always lay out the "ground rules" and emphasize that I have no tolerance for wine snobs. You know, the people who know what they like, like what they know and I'll never convince them otherwise. These are the folks who, one: will not be reading this blog, two: wouldn't dream of paying $10 for a bottle of wine and three: think the only good wine out there is from Napa.
I myself have been accused of snobbery, but not in the "I'm going to deliberately try to make you feel stupid and inadequate by using big wine geek words" snob. I'm the dorky snob. I'll admit I've mercilessly criticized a wine list for offering 8 different kinds of California Chardonnay or a dozen Napa Cabs while being totally void of something "global" or hard to pronounce. I'm the kind of drinker that will scroll a list desperate to find something I've never had or even better yet, never heard of. Yes, it is "research" mixed with a little curiosity and a dash of adventure. But does that make me and my ideal list right and everyone else wrong?
I've been on a soap box for the last 5 years. Preaching things like "open minds enjoy more wines" and "don't pass judgment on this wine until you've tasted the food that's been paired with it, blah, blah , blah". I've been hell bent on getting people to taste wines they never normally would, in the hopes that they would discover their new favorite. Part of this mission of developing people's sense of wine adventure included (if not completely encompassed) getting folks to stop drinking anything from California. The point was that California is "safe". You know what Cakebread tastes like. You've had Grgich a thousand times. There are five cases of Rombauer sitting in your guest room. But that begs the question... So what?
Why does that bother me so much?
Maybe because the common mentality surrounding these wines is that they are the be all and end all of viticulture. Maybe it bothers me because it really doesn't matter what they taste like, as long as they get a good score or the person standing in line behind you at the grocery store is impressed. But again, even that mentality begs the question... So what? Aren't I the poster child for wine tolerance?
Now that I live here, in the land of wines I had come to despise, I realize what it is that bothers me so much. These wines are good, if not great, in spite of the fact they haven't any "real" history.
Napa wines make my job difficult. It's hard to be entertaining when all you have to talk about is "18 months in new French oak" or "hand-harvested in small batches". Borrrring.
Most of the time they don't have a story. With the exception of the occasional "I smuggled this Dijon Pinot Noir clone here from Burgundy in my pants" story, the cultivation of these wines is relatively uninteresting. I can't talk about French settlers from the 1600's or the discovery of the benefits of altitude. There aren't any wars, or diseases or famines that took place. There isn't a Phoenix rising from the ashes. The truth is these wines are magnificent ... just because.
Now, I'm not undermining the determination and diligence of oenologists and viticulturists who tirelessly sought out the perfect areas to plant Cabernet and Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. I an not saying that there isn't an interesting difference between Cabernets from the Rutherford Bench and ones from the Stag's Leap District. But what I am saying is - that was it. That was the challenge. The where and the what. Once that was figured out... ta-da. Wine. World class wine.
So, after all my preaching, am I in fact a wine snob? I'll stick to my guns and say no. I am an equal opportunity drinker. I love any wine that is balanced, integrated, and complex (although I'm bound to like it more if it has anything to do with scurvy, phylloxera or Capn' Crunch - ala CG Diarie). I don't feel Napa wines are inferior. I do however, reserve the right to still thumb my nose at those folks who proceed to tell me that they will only drink Napa...
There is a whole world of wine out there people. Get drinking.
