-
@ Ben Justman🍷
2025-06-06 19:47:21
You're being lied to about wine, Anon.
To most people, vintage variation is entirely theoretical. They haven't actually experienced it and even if they have, it's a bit shrouded in mystery.
https://blossom.primal.net/00505ffc55e36e0f41ecb438b79c2c80bb65272b08b2529c493c2bf4df02ce27.jpg
Have you ever taken the time to open up 2 bottles from the same vineyard of different vintages at the same time and given them the attention it takes to recognize the differences?
Vintage variation is ephemeral and hard to experience.
That's exactly why it's become lost in most American wine.
The average wine consumer is buying a $20-$30 bottle. They're picking by variety, then likely by finding a cool label. Once they find one they like, they stick with it because the wine aisle is an extremely daunting place to be.
That wine brand now has their loose loyalty because you liked their product that one time and know where to find it on the shelf. If the winery makes a vintage that tastes different (not necessarily "worse") they could lose you as a customer.
Not to mention, the ratings agencies that score wine have very specific flavor profiles they look for and, at the scale of these wineries, the difference between a 90 and a 91 score is millions and millions of dollars.
The fiat wine world incentivizes manipulation, and sameness and blending between vineyards to the extent that vintage variation is an extreme afterthought and no one even knows they're missing it.
But Ben, if no one even knows they're missing it, why should I care?
Vintage variation is a look into the soul of wine. You can tell characteristics about the vineyard from any vintage, but the difference in taste year to year is that ephemeral bit that makes people go crazy about wine in the same way that people go crazy about bitcoin when they first start going down the rabbit hole.
It's the secret sauce.
It's what truly differentiates soulful wine from the grape derived alcoholic beverages that are created by food scientists in labs that pass for wine these days.
Most bottles are just empty vessels. The soul was never invited in.