What to write about...
Tom's recent post regarding "wines to drink....not write about" got me thinking. Is there really no market for entry-level wine consumer writing? It seems that if all of the writing is about the so-called "intellectual" and "artistic" components of wine, aren't we just reinforcing wine's insular behavior?
By that, I mean that the most frequent reason that people don't get into wine is that they find it intimidating, full of obscure terms phrases that require a dictionary to understand. Is there no need for writing at multiple levels? For example, I really like the San Francisco Chronicle's weekly wine section because it has articles for the wine geek as well as introductory articles for those with less exposure to wine and its terminology (note their recent article on Sauvignon Blanc descriptors). Also see this article from the Washington Post and this one from the Detroit News.
Honestly, this kind of approach is much of the reason why I started this blog. I want people to realize (among other things) that:
1) pink/sweet wines are wines too
2) any wine you like is a good wine, and
3) just because the wine world is full of pretentious assholes doesn't mean that you can't find a place for your own enjoyment of the beverage.
By that, I mean that the most frequent reason that people don't get into wine is that they find it intimidating, full of obscure terms phrases that require a dictionary to understand. Is there no need for writing at multiple levels? For example, I really like the San Francisco Chronicle's weekly wine section because it has articles for the wine geek as well as introductory articles for those with less exposure to wine and its terminology (note their recent article on Sauvignon Blanc descriptors). Also see this article from the Washington Post and this one from the Detroit News.
Honestly, this kind of approach is much of the reason why I started this blog. I want people to realize (among other things) that:
1) pink/sweet wines are wines too
2) any wine you like is a good wine, and
3) just because the wine world is full of pretentious assholes doesn't mean that you can't find a place for your own enjoyment of the beverage.
posted by Anonymous at 10:01 AM
5 Comments:
Hugh,
I fear I might seem to fall into the "Pretentious A**hole" category. Though, if you saw my choice of wines you might downgrade me to just "A**hole status.
You do have a point. There is of course room for "entry level" or educational articles and stories. In fact, the vast majority of what is written falls into this category. And you are right, again, that the SF Chronicle is doing it well.
What I'm calling for is a more inspirational, more probing, more deeply thought out element of the wine writing genre. Let's call a spade a spade, wine lovers and wine writing CAN be pretentious because both are reacting to a very unique and inspirational product, something so deeply rooted in cultures, so loved, so broadly refective of societies and histories that once you start to consider the drink in any depth you are obliged to dig deep.
Cheers,
Tom...
I get the impression there's a new species out there, a kind of anti-snob snob. I can enjoy simple wine too but what's to write about? It's fruity, it's good, end of story. A lot is written about baseball, not as much about hackey-sack. I wonder why?
I hate to break it to Huge, who seems to despise everything about wine except fruit, but maybe he's missing something. Why assume that people are so easily intimidated? There's plenty of Yellow Tail out there to console people who feel that way.
Many enjoy curious flavour combinations and view the strange names on wine labels as offering an opportunity for discovery.
Anonmymous says, Sorry I forgot to include my name. John
Your love of wine shows through, Huge. I'm just worried about a counter-elite forming out there. An equally exclusive club that rejects every notion that's not firmly grounded in tried and true verifiable sense.
And while I respect the right of anyone to eat at McDonald's, I just don't think it's worth reading about from a culinary point of view.
Aw Huge, I'm just defending the right of a wine drinker to come unhinged every once in a while, and at the risk of sounding pretentious, attempt to express the inexpressable.
I take your point about the established nobility. Those demi-gods I will only read about in books. But there's a mob out there clamouring for an end to every tradition. I don't trust them either. Before you know it they and their marketing masters will be ripping out old vines and planting shiraz everywhere.
Cheers, Huge, great blog, funny name.
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