{"id":32821,"date":"2013-03-19T07:47:41","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T13:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/19\/good-bad-and-misrecognized-wine.html"},"modified":"2013-03-19T07:47:41","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T13:47:41","slug":"good-bad-and-misrecognized-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/19\/good-bad-and-misrecognized-wine.html","title":{"rendered":"Good, bad, and misrecognized wine"},"content":{"rendered":"
Unfortunately, this is one of those topics that lends itself to binary thinking, along the lines of:<\/p>\n

A. All wines are meaningfully different, especially to experts, and there is a direct correlation between price and quality, so get out of my face, you loutish brute.<\/p>\n

B. All wine is basically the same, and any differences are all about marketing, so clam up, elitist snob.<\/p>\n

The studies do show the value of expectations<\/i> (true or false) in aesthetic judgments like winemaking (or art, or literature, or food, or sex, or …). \u00a0When told there is a difference, we will strain to find one, especially one that lines up with our expectations. \u00a0Thus outlying results like people apparently unable to tell the blinded difference between a red wine and a white wine. \u00a0We (correctly) expect them to taste different (because we do), and thus in the extreme manufacture the difference (or ignore the lack of difference) when presented that expected situation. \u00a0<\/p>\n

On the other hand, we can<\/i> be surprised by something. Bad buzz can kill a movie overall — but there are plenty of movies that were panned by the critics or the public that I personally enjoyed (and vice-versa). \u00a0"There's no accounting for tastes" is a factor here, but expectations aren't the only thing that affect perceived quality or difference. \u00a0<\/p>\n

That all said, quality can have a very loose\u00a0correlation\u00a0with cost. There are certainly aspects of wine prices that are driven by rarity, and by production prices as well (land in Napa is a lot more expensive to acquire and work than it is in Temecula, or the Grand Valley, or Oklahoma). And, yes, a lot of it is driven by marketing, which creates an total package. \u00a0(One might question whether marketing and the overall meta-experience are not legitimate aspects of the product. \u00a0My hotel room in Barstow is not that much different from my hotel room in Florence — does that mean they will or should cost exactly the same? A Porsche 911 isn't going to get me to the office any faster or arguably more comfortably than my Subaru, but that doesn't mean I expect the same sticker price or experience.) \u00a0There are very enjoyable $10 bottles of wine, and $100 bottles of wine that aren't as good. \u00a0There are also $100 bottles of wine that are excellent — but not "ten times as good" (whatever that might mean) as a $10 bottle.<\/p>\n

Similarly, even if a $5 Stouffer's lasagna can pass at a fancy restaurant, that doesn't mean that there's no difference between Stouffer's lasagna and what, say, my wife would make. I promise you.<\/p>\n

So … find what you like. Experiment. \u00a0Consider trying something a bit pricier at times to see if you<\/i> think it's worth it. \u00a0Don't let the experts dictate your taste, but don't discard their advice as meaningless, either. \u00a0Avoid false elitism and false egalitarianism alike. And recall Mark Twain's comment, "It is not best that we should all think alike; it is differences of opinion that make horse races."<\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

Why We Can’t Tell Good Wine From Bad<\/a>
\n The Misconception: Wine is a complicated elixir, full of subtle flavors only an expert can truly distinguish, and experienced tasters are impervious to deception.\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unfortunately, this is one of those topics that lends itself to binary thinking, along the lines of: A. All wines are meaningfully different, especially to experts, and there is a direct correlation between price and quality, so get out of my face, you loutish brute. B. All wine is basically the same, and any differences … Continue reading “Good, bad, and misrecognized wine”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8109,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/05\/18\/a_high_pitched.html","url_meta":{"origin":32821,"position":0},"title":"A high-pitched wine","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 18-May-05 12:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Some nice advice on ordering wine in a restaurant. Good stuff, though I was chagrinned to see this item: Restaurant owners will often price the wine they buy cheapest at...","rel":"","context":"In "Wine, Beer, & Liquor"","block_context":{"text":"Wine, Beer, & Liquor","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink\/food-drink-wine"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26797,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/02\/but-i-think-youll-be-impressed-by-its-insouciance.html","url_meta":{"origin":32821,"position":1},"title":""But I think you'll be impressed by its insouciance!"","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 2-Mar-12 2:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"We know that people have different taste sensitivities and react to different flavors differently. E.g., some people are sensitive to particular chemicals in broccoli than others, hence finding it more or less palatable.Apparently the same is true for wine -- as wine experts (professional winemakers, wine writers, liquor control agents,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41676,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/10\/like-wine-fine-violins-are-not-what-you-might-think.html","url_meta":{"origin":32821,"position":2},"title":"Like wine, fine violins are not what you might think","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 10-Apr-14 11:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Another blind testing of modern violins vs. Strads indicates that there's a difference between what is considered a classic and what is actually preferred.\ufeff Blind-tested soloists unable to tell Stradivarius violins from modern instruments A modern instrument was the clear winner and a Stradivarius the loser in a double-blind test\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13119,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/07\/16\/whine_tasting.html","url_meta":{"origin":32821,"position":3},"title":"Whine Tasting","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 16-Jul-08 5:24pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Mary forwards me an article from the Feakonomics blog: Cheap Wine - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog. 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Very sad.Also sad that the classic design is on the way out (http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/business\/branded\/2011\/10\/red_cups_how_solo_s_disposable_drinking_vessel_became_an_america.single.html). It's like nothing makes sense any more ...\u00a0Reshared post from +Les JenkinsI was pretty sure that this wasn't in any way official and now SOLO\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11935,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/12\/27\/missed_gift_opportunities.html","url_meta":{"origin":32821,"position":5},"title":"Missed gift opportunities …","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Dec-07 3:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I deeply regret that (a) I didn't see the ad for and (b) didn't find $50-70 lying on the ground in time to buy someone one of these amazing(ly...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/mini-wine-enhancer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}