Critiquing Wine Criticism
It’s Time to Rethink Wine Criticism, according to NY Times wine columnist Eric Asimov. He says “the most valuable thing wine writers can do is to help consumers develop confidence… [and] gain enough knowledge to make their own buying decisions without the crutch of the bottle review.” Asimov suggests that evaluating producers may be more useful to consumers than scoring bottles. Learning about how producers make and think about wine has mos def become more relevant to me than a score. Asimov believes that wine writers have more to offer by introducing consumers to unfamiliar regions, grapes and producers - which inspires readers to learn more and try different things - and I know it has for me, otherwise I wouldn’t be drinking this Alibernet blend from Slovakia okay.
Wine Is About The People Making It. More to Asimov’s point about evaluating producers instead of bottles, this article is a good reminder that winemaking is about the people behind it. Wine can often be a reflection of the winemaker's personality - not necessarily for mass-produced wines where a homogenous product is the end goal - but for smaller, artisanal winemakers who show inexplicable purity and honesty where wine production truly shines bright like a diamond. Thankfully “there is a growing movement of people...seeking truth, electricity and love in their wines” so it’s becoming easier to find information about interesting producers.
The Friends of Summer Society is an annual subscription wine club that offers a mixed case of natural wines from A Sunday In August. Their wines are grown organically and produced naturally in British Columbia: the grapes are from the Similkameen Valley and the wine is made in Naramata Bench. Also you guys, the wine labels are beautiful (all designed by Canadian female artists) and the imagery represents the brand which is nice feelings, nice honest wine, made for young people. And thanks to some nice friends, I just received my mixed case, which gave me nice feelings, and made me feel young. And it doesn’t hurt that this skin-fermented Pinot Gris looks like a sunset and tastes like a dream. This is the first subscription I’ve had that I hope auto-renews every year 😉!
Speaking of Dreamy Wine Clubs, the Grape Witches announced the launch of their new Wine Club. Each month they will offer limited six packs of mixed cases of their favourite wines. There’s the Fresh + Funky pack for $240 and the Fancy + Fine pack for $360. Each month will be a different selection and will contain two bottles of three wines with an authentic GW hand-written description of the wines. If you follow GW’s instagram you’ll know that they have already beat Eric Asimov to the punch, as they have long been providing info about producers and their wine making process, written in a fun and relatable way. I have discovered so many wines because of them so I’m sure their Wine Club picks will be amazé.
