Today on my news feed, I stumbled across an article entitled “Nine Best Burgundy Wines under $100”. What a load of shit.

I read the first paragraph; well, at least the first sentence or two. Essentially, it said that there are more buyers for (new release) Burgundy wines than there are (new release) Burgundy wines for sale. This is news? There is nothing new about this, hasn’t been news for many decades.

It doesn’t take advanced degrees in Economics to figure out what this means for you – if, in fact, you happen to be interested in acquiring some of these wines.

Let’s get back to the headline for a moment. Ten Best according to whom? A person that’s been drinking Burgundy wines for five years, thirty years? More?  Way more? Does this person’s palate align with your own, do you care, is this even part of the equation for you? Or is it simply about wanting what we can’t have (or worse, owning something you can brag to your friends that you scored!). Ask yourself, “Self, is it more about wanting something that others want, and then doing everthing possible to get the wines at the top of – or at least on – that list”?

These are all important questions, even if we’re not used to/conditioned to thinking this way before making purchase decisions.

I never did read what the ten wines were. Why on earth would I?

There is no one size fits all when it comes to wine. Please re-read that last sentence. And, again. It may be a foreign concept, at least when it comes to thinking this way BEFORE you make a purchase, it might be foreign.

The disconnect, between someone plugging wines (read: mainstream ‘critics’ with high scores and flowery prose leavened with breathless enthusiasm), and the public’s actual enjoyment (or scores) is very wide. At least that’s my experience. And if you challenge my experience, then you’re probably someone that is used to (and defends) buying from the “The Best“, lists.

At this point, you’re probably thinking “What a load of shit is right!”, “this joker is off his meds again – and a tosser to boot”!  While the aforementioned may or may not be accurate, the point I’m making still stands, someone else’s The Best list, and yours, don’t look the same. They never will. They can’t. It’s impossible. They’re not you.

But, because someone declares that it’s possible (and that’s exactly what they’re doing when they come up with such bullshit, click-on-me-I’m an authority articles), and because they’re in a publication that is determined to be a ‘safe, reliable place to gather such critical information, or worse, accurate;  most will take the list at face value. And at that point, depending on how severe their addiction, erm, hobby is, they’ll spend the next week – or more -searching the interwebs. They may forgo sleep -for days; they won’t stop until they’ve acquired them/some, or their computer burns up from incessant use. All because someone declared them to be The Best.

There is no Santa Claus.

(header photo: section of old vine at the Kathryn Kennedy vineyards, a few years before the development bulldozers showed up and turned it into expensive houses)