Vino vs. beer

Taste in wine and beer are 100% personal, no matter how many sites like BA and Wine Spectator exist to tell people what is good and what isn't it still comes down to what each individual likes. My wife is from Chinon France, to her cabernets are too syrupy sweet so she will rarely ever drink one. I've been a serious beer drinker for 35 years now and have had countless beers of all styles, I still don't like DIPA's and probably never will. My boss used to try all the beers I drank at his house or mine, he still only liked Budweiser and that's absolutely fine.

 

Beer is great, cheaper, and multifaceted.

Wine gets you laid.

There is a time and a place for each.

 

I'm certain that beer works as well, and is one of those facets.

 

It's not wrong to like what you like. I'm just saying when it comes to making a judgment on the merits of beer versus wine your boss wouldn't be the first guy I'd choose to make the case for beer.

 

His opinion is worth exactly as much as mine and yours, that's my point. It's up to each of us to agree or disagree.

 

You should drink better wine.

 

Some opinions are more valuable than others. I have a buddy who w/ the exception of one or two songs doesn't like hip hop at all. Now I can ask him to give me his judgment or opinion of hip hop versus say punk (which he loves) but wouldn't his opinion be extremely biased and unfair?

 

Nope it would just mean they like BMC, or they are fibbing. God knows enough is sold. Some folks actually like it despite trying other options.

 

True but you wouldn't have him and five others like him craft a "Notable new IPA 2013 list" would you? What value would there be in that?

 

well this is awfully strange. I wanted to post a screen cap of the tweet, but it's gone. Can a direct message to my handle be deleted by the sender? And....why would they do that?

 

This is certainly also true. But for most people, wine just has a romantic connotation that beer doesn't typically carry (deserved or not).

 

Of course most wine is not age worthy but that doesn't really matter in regards to this discussion.

06 Clos des Papes and 98 Comtes were both under $100 upon release and were poured for under $20 a pour at wine shops. $100 may seem steep but countless people drive to and camp outside of Kern for 6 bottles of Citra- something that can be reproduced constantly. And 3 or 4 people can easily share a bottle. Not very inaccessible when you really think about it.

Yes lots of wines are reproducible but the great ones are not- and great does not always mean expensive or unobtainable. The 05 Clos Apalta is world class and was $50 on release and the best vintage they've made and Lapostolle can't recreate that no matter how hard they try. Even the 05 Nipozzano was under $20 and outstanding and current vintages don't really come close.

 

Obviously, I am all about beer but it's always fun to try wine when I get the chance.

 

I am trying to ditch wine as the interesting stuff is so goddamn expensive...and quite frequently you have to beg to even get an allocation. That's right, there's shitfights to have the right to buy some wines that cost $100-$1000. Ridiculous. And it's a bit out of control when a bottle of wine ends up costing 400-2000% more than the food. Too often the pricing of good wine has nothing to do with production costs - the owners of Chateau Latour, Margaux, etc. must laugh when they wake up each morning, at the thought that there are idiots in the world happy to pay $2000+ for a bottle of their fermented grape juice. And on the other hand, 90% of the wine that costs less than $20 is Pabst Blue Ribbon grade - heavily tricked up, minimal typicity - pizza grade / aeroplane wine. Also, the wine industry is riddled with so much conflicted interest situations between producers and critics.

So, decided to switch over to beer for financial reasons. In general, far less pretentious and lower margins demanded from retailers/producers...although I see a lot of craft beer nerds falling for the same traps as wine fans and succumbing to slick marketing and higher margins of the "artisan" producers. Surprising as well that it seems that a lot of craft beer nerds are even more pretentious than wine fans - Comic Book Guy snobbery.

Having said that, a great pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, nebbiolo or xinomavro with meat is one of the great things in life. Semillon, chardonnay or riesling with seafood or vegies...beer is usually inferior as a companion with food apart from maybe super spicy foods.

 

Don't kid yourself, your $2/L wine is vin de table/grand ordinaire. The majority of French wine is not Lafite/DRC/Trimbach/Chave-grade...least of all cheap wine from the local co-op.

 

"And on the other hand, 90% of the wine that costs less than $20 is Pabst Blue Ribbon grade - heavily tricked up, minimal typicity - pizza grade / aeroplane wine."

I can't attach a percentage to it but there are many small production family run wineries producing wines of character for under $20 (e.g. http://moorebrothers.com). Also reputable importers like Kermit Lynch and others have wines in that price range. Cotes du Rhone and other appellation wines from around that region can be quite affordable. There are other examples.
So it isn't an either-or proposition of first growth wines or Yellow Tail.

 

I keep harping on the wonderful values from Spain, particularly garnacha and monastrell (mourvedre). These great deals, imo, are the best on earth. As far as the greater point, these Spanish wines easily compare equally or surpass many mainstream craft beer options in value. I love beer and truly enjoy wine with food, so I'm happy with the choices available today. I don't think an ounce vs ounce comparison is the best way to determine value. It's with each individual to decide, eventually.

 

I'm talking about buying direct from the vintner-the same stuff I pay $25-45 per bottle for over here. No co-op shit for me, that was my FIL's favorite trick so I learned early to avoid that stuff. It helps also that my inlaws are personal friends with many of the small vintners in their area.

 

I'm not saying you're wrong because I wasn't there but for $2 a liter I'd be surprised if you're getting your "pick of the barrels". The vintner will have basic table wine and then stuff at higher levels; like his 2005 barrels here his 2007 there, etc. I doubt all these levels are available to you at $2/liter. Wine at that price is probably young fresh basic wine.