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11-12 years ago, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio used to be $9.99 a bottle. It was a very good wine for cheap and wine hipsters loved it. Then after a string of
by kilo_bravo_3 8y ago
11-12 years ago, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio used to be $9.99 a bottle.
It was a very good wine for cheap and wine hipsters loved it.
Then after a string of stellar reviews in different wine media outlets it became hard to find at $20-30+ a bottle.
The price, coupled with the scarcity and good reviews made it even more sought after. So production was increased.
Now it is easy to find for $18 a bottle.
Because it is now popular, and relatively expensive, wine hipsters turn their nose up at it.
Snobs will claim for days that the ramp up in production has led to quality differences to something they tasted a decade ago, with absolutely no way of supporting that claim.
I imagine the same thing happens with whisky, except whisky production is harder to increase due to aging requirements.
I'm 100% sure that if Japanese distilleries find some way of increasing production and availability, whisky snobs will wave their hands and say "oh they ruined it", even if every objective means of evaluating it shows it to be spectrometrically, molecularly, and even atomically identical in every way to whiskeys back when they were rare.
- pradn 8y agoWe should not underestimate the social and "hype" aspects of enjoying something. I enjoy things a lot more when I'm primed to enjoy them. It's sort of like the placebo effect for enjoyment. I'm much more charitable with a film made by a director who is well regarded than by an unknown, for better or worse. I suppose you can go the opposite way and only like things other people turn their noses at, but that's a bit misanthropic.
- ballenf 8y agoAnd the exclusivity factor. Whether a hidden vacation spot, restaurant, food, or under-appreciated spirit. Even a paid app from an indie dev gets is often more loved than the same app from mega corp would even if given away free. Also why every large brewer has a bunch of "micro" brew labels with the big corp name nowhere in sight. A Japanese friend gave me a bottle of Suntory about 10 years ago and it was my favorite whisky to share and talk about with others precisely because so unknown. It was also very tasty.
- Retric 8y agoI strongly disagree, otherwise you get stuck in an echo chamber. I tend to enjoy things that other people do. However, I become more critical when something is considered 'good' or expensive not less. So, I prefer to go in fairly blind vs listen to a lot of hype.
- delecti 8y agoI find the opposite often to be true, if something's hyped up I often find that I'm primed to be disappointed.
- wmeredith 8y agoThere’s an old saying, “There’s no accounting for taste.” Food, drink, art, fashion, music, they’re all driven by the process you describe. Aka “trends”. There’s a reason presentation is such a huge part of cooking. Context is important when trying to assign a value to the appeal of something.
- squarefoot 8y agoPresentation is most important when one needs to give further value to sell food overpriced. Compare for example those two meals: https://bit.ly/2ujGdla https://bit.ly/2ujGdla and https://bit.ly/2KV1jAM https://bit.ly/2KV1jAM Without any doubt the second ingredients kill the first ones in nourishing value, therefore they have literally to invent new ways of rearranging them so that the presentation "value" justifies the price. I have no doubt the first meal would cost multiple times the second, but no way I would take one even if I'd be fine spending that money for something that could only make me more hungry.
- balfirevic 8y agoSo, you can think of nothing in that first meal apart from presentation that would justify higher price? And what is "nourishing value"? Calories?
- squarefoot 8y agoYes, absolutely nothing. It can surely be an interesting exercise in aesthetics (admittedly it's beautiful to look at) and taste mixing, but I see it more related to tasting than eating.
- joejerryronnie 8y agoSame thing happened with South American Malbecs a few years ago. I used to find very nice quality Malbecs from Chile and Argentina for under $10. Now they sell for double.
- Ptazzz 8y agoI have heard similar stories about Patrón Tequila, which is marketed as a premium tequila and definitely one of the more pricey brands. It was originally produced by the Casa Siete Leguas distillery. However, they moved production to a newer distillery in 2002 to allow for more mass production. It was argued that the move caused a major decrease in quality and no longer deserves the premium price tag it goes for nowadays. It's impossible for me to say if these claims are true since the move happened a while ago, but it is another example of consumers arguing quality differences in a product.
- Infernal 8y agoIn this case, Siete Leguas still produces tequila - would be interesting to compare, as the prices between Siete Leguas and Patrón are not too far off. https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/tequila/blanco-silver/7-leguas-blanco-tequila/p/101628750?s=1108 https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/tequila/blanco-silver/7-le...
- saosebastiao 8y agoIt is by far one of the best tequilas available at any price. In particular their añejos and reposados. Patron is still a great tequila. But if Siete Leguas is available, I'll choose it every time.
- deelowe 8y agoJapanese whiskey is pretty damn good though and quality does usually go down when production is increased (esp with whiskey as they often have to change the water source, grain, and aging processes).
- kevinconaway 8y ago>It was a very good wine for cheap and wine hipsters loved it. > Because it is now popular, and relatively expensive, wine hipsters turn their nose up at it. Could it be that the so-called hipsters enjoyed the wine priced at $9.99 but not when the price nearly doubled?
- ekianjo 8y ago> it shows it to be spectrometrically, molecularly, and even atomically identical in every way The problem with that kind of statement is that you vastly overestimate the analytical capabilities that we have. Yeah, with infinite resources we can probably pretty well separate and understand every component of a good wine or Whisky, but that's not something that simple to do, and is ripe with incertitude with each measurement.
- abalone 8y agoGood. Alto Adige is full of great wines to explore. Don’t fixate on one producer — and try other varietals too.
- Godel_unicode 8y agoI see nothing in the post you're replying to that says they haven't explored other producers or varietals. You appear to be applauding the fact that a wine which used to be a good value for money became either worse or, at the very least, a worse value. That seems like an odd reaction.
- abalone 8y agoSometimes you need a push to break out of your comfort zone. And yes generally people into Pinot Grigio, even the best ones, could use a push. Alto Adige has fantastic and interesting other varietals.
- js2 8y agoPsst, Old Grand Dad BIB 100 is pretty good. Don’t tell anyone.
- staticautomatic 8y agoIt would be trivially easy to support that claim about the wine. You just do a blind vertical taste test.