• The 24th annual Dallas Morning News Wine Competition will be held Feb. 9-10. This is notable because it's the largest U.S. commercial wine competition outside California, and the fourth largest in the United States. It gets more than 3,000 national and international entries. I haven't judged it yet, but I have my hopes. It is known for very competitive non-vinifera categories, which the Wine Curmudgeon really enjoys.
• We're all wine snobs, apparently. A California study found that if people think wine costs more, then they think it tastes better. The subjects' brains showed more pleasure when they were drinking wine they were told cost more -- even though they were drinking the same wines throughout the study. The researcher who ran the study was befuddled, saying: "We were shocked. I think it was because the flavor was stronger and our subjects were not very experienced." He thought wine professionals might deliver different results, but I'm not too sure.
• One of the most interesting people in the Texas wine business, grape grower Alphonse Dotson is included in Saveur's 10th annual list of 100 favorites in the world of food and wine. Dotson, who is also president of the Texas wine trade group, is instantly recognizable thanks to his trademark cowboy hat. He cuts quite a figure at formal events.
I think it would be cool if people took the opposite approach, which over time I have started to take. The biggest thrill of my wine drinking life was when I paid EUR 9.00 in a Restaurant (!!) for a bottle of red wine from Valtellina and had a truly perfect bottle for the meal we had.
I get a thrill out of finding great quality in a low price. I honestly don't think I know wine nearly well enough to truly enjoy the expensive stuff so I avoid it. I'm looking forward to the day, when I would be able to tell if an expensive bottle really merits the price....
Posted by: JC | January 15, 2008 at 11:14 AM