Daddy Winebucks

To continue a theme found running through these first few blog posts, namely that I am essentially an unread blogger, I’ve also taken upon myself the task of writing a novel in my spare time.  You know, instead of writing 600 words virtually no one will ever see, I’m now over 20,000 words into my first long form writing piece, titled, “The Way Things Are.”

This too may end up on the slush pile of my life but I’m having a lot of fun with it, so as long as that’s the case, I’m forging ahead.  Part of this process has involved working with a wonderful teacher, Edan Lepucki, creative guru behind, Writing Workshops Los Angeles.

As part of our upcoming class, we’ve been instructed to read, “The Great Gatsby”, a book I somehow avoided during high school.  I finished it this morning and while it’s not the drop dead masterpiece I had expected, Fitzgerald’s writing packs a lot more punch into far less words than I tend to use (no joke) to get a thought across.  But you’re asking yourself how this relates to wine.  Here’s how…

Jay Gatsby was a complex character who on the surface had everything going for him; money, lots of friends, a great house on the water.  Underneath though, just below the skinline, was an unhappy person, who counted few of those who came to his parties as friends, an unrequited love he’d never fulfill and perhaps not even the money and success he showed to the outside world.

So too it seems the wine world is a little like that.  Yes, it’s all about great vineyards, great winemakers, great fruit and of course a great story.  But there is also the danger in all of the above, that the expectation of the wine will not match the product itself.  Just yesterday I was at a friend’s house and he excitedly told me that after three years he was finally offered a six bottle allocation of Harlan Estates, one of the grand-daddies of high end cult Cabernet.  I joked, “at how much, $300.00/bottle?”  To which my friend replied, “Five.”

Yikes.

This led to a brief discussion of how there is no way the wine will ever be perceived as “worth” it, when there are literally hundreds of wines even topping out at $100.00 that will equal the pleasure of drinking something priced five times more.  It was further juxtaposed when I came home from the party to polish off the end of a bottle of Oak Grove 2005 Petite Sirah Reserve, bought for about $7.00 at Ralphs.  The wine was fruit forward, low alcohol (13.6%, which by today’s CA standards is practically non-alcoholic) and a wonderful way to end the day.  What struck me as important though was I loved it *and* it cost less than $10.00.

Part of me thinks the only way one can truly judge a wine is by its “QTP” factor (quality to price).  In the Oak Grove example the QTP (for my palate) was high.  Put another way, a wine that scores 95 by one of the recognized critics but costs $250.00 should on some levels be judged against something that scores an 89 but costs $6.00.

Too often though, wines that score high (in most cases rightfully so) can’t live up to the price it costs to drink, while many, many wines give as much pleasure for a fraction of the cost.

The Great Gatsby lived well but died young.  As for me, I think I’ll opt for a more level equation in everything I do, one that inspires me to enjoy more at far higher QTP.