Forbes, Parker, Lynch -- Lamenting the "Good Old Days"

I read a short article in Forbes tonight by Richard Nalley that made me smile. He writes:

... admiringly described by critic Robert Parker as having "a monstrously rich, full-bodied palate that just oozes fruit, glycerin and alcohol."

Still, nostalgists may remember a time when wines didn't ooze. Or anyway, not the wines you wanted.

He goes on to quote Kermit Lynch:

"Great wine is about nuance, surprise, subtlety, expression, qualities that keep you coming back for another taste. Rejecting a wine because it is not big enough is like rejecting a piece of music because it is not loud enough."

Thank you Mr. Nalley for pointing out what needs to be shouted from the highest roof tops across the land.

'Bigger is better' has become a key mantra of our age. The fact that it's so widespread - not just with wine - makes it much more difficult to argue against.

An even greater danger to me is the push to making wine more a status symbol than a simple beverage to have with a meal. The amount of label chasing going on really is staggering now. Much more wealth concentrated in fewer hands now, I guess. It seems to have gotten worse lately, but no doubt it's been around for hundereds of years.

The original Bordeaux classification was perhaps an early warning sign; the 2005 pricing seems more like the coming of the apocolypse!!

An even greater danger to me is the push to making wine more a status symbol than a simple beverage to have with a meal. The amount of label chasing going on really is staggering now.

No argument there, John. Much as Woodrow Wilson's vice president jocularly mused, "What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar," could be twisted today to say, "What this country needs is a good ten buck bottle of wine."

Thanks for quoting parts of this article, Bucko. I particularly liked this line: "For most of recorded connoisseurship, the big idea has been to make a balanced wine that refreshes your palate and meshes, rather than collides, with a reasonable variety of foods." And Nalley has an interesting list of wines that fit his theme.

Here's a link to the article for folks who might enjoy the whole thing: http://www.forbes.com/fyi/2006/0619/053.html

I can't remember if registration is required, but it's not a subscription site.

Thanks again.