Comments on: Why inexpensive American wine is so bad

By: emc

emc — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:13:38 +0000

wineclubweb: If you think A to Z Pinot Noir is good, there is no hope for you

By: wineclubweb

wineclubweb — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:58:23 +0000

I don’t agree on the statement that “inexpensive American wine is bad”. There are many cheap wines that are bad, but that is also true for many other products. In general I guess you can say that expensive wines are better that inexpensive ones, but that is true with all kinds of products.

However, if you look a little harder trying to find a good and cheap American wine you will succeed. Who actually has the right to tell another wine lover what wine is good and what is bad? To me this is up to the consumer to decide. Personally I tend to enjoy a wine more if I know about the grapes and the vineyard it comes from.

Main stream wines (and all other pushed products) are promoted hard by big corporations. Just because a wine is main stream doesn’t mean it meets the taste of everybody.

Tips on good American wines under $ 20:

* A to Z Pinot Noir 2007 Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon
* Lieb Family Cellars’ 2007 Pinot Blanc
* Roederer Estate’s sparkling wine which is produced using only Estate-grown grapes from the winery’s own vineyards.

By: Elisa

Elisa — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:02:55 +0000

Joseph, it doesn’t follow that because people prefer inexpensive Spanish and French wines to inexpensive American wines, inexpensive American wines are “bad” … just as it does not follow that if people prefer inexpensive wines to expensive wines, expensive wines are bad. Establishing a preference for X over Y is not evidence that Y is “bad.” The claim still sounds biased.

It’s fine to say, “I don’t care what the general public prefers, I am an arbiter of taste.” That’s what it means to be a critic. I was just surprised to see inklings of that here.

By: joseph g

joseph g — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:51:17 +0000

elisa: inexpensive AMERICAN wine is not the same as inexpensive wine IN GENERAL, and goldstein’s blind tasting study showed that people prefer inexpensive wine IN GENERAL. did you even read this article? he specifically states that: “Although Spain and France had fewer entries in our tastings (the universe of wines with which we started was the under-$15 mass market, which is dominated by US producers), a much higher percentage of them made it into the top 100 that were recommended in the book.” next time read before you write!

By: Elisa

Elisa — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:40:52 +0000

I’m really surprised that you’re making this claim (“inexpensive American wine is bad”) with no apparent irony or disclaimer of bias after doing the blind study that shows people prefer inexpensive wine. Are you actually claiming to be some ultimate arbiter of quality in this space? as in, “Most people only THINK they prefer expensive wine … but I REALLY do!”

By: CJS

CJS — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:38:24 +0000

While I was living in London last year, I had quite a difficult time finding anything decent that was priced less than 6-7 Pounds per bottle. That may be because of the expense of London, but I thought it was worth noting; I bought my wines almost exclusively from the grocery stores, including the Tesco next to my office in Slough…

By: rockman

rockman — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:28:28 +0000

Why is inexpensive American wine so bad? Duh. Why is anything massed-produced so bad? Why is the bread most Americans eat so bad? Why is anything produced in a factory with raw materials purchased to enhance the bottom line, not the quality, so bad? Cheap grapes grown on factory farms = bad wine. Small artisan producers with concern for terroir can’t afford to sell their wine cheaply. By the way, To Kalon and Cayuse vineyards may have terroir, but Napa doesn’t have terroir and neither does Walla Walla – terroir exists at the level of (some) individual vineyards.