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So I make wine, and I do wine tastings and liquor tastings. The first thing to know, unless you're getting gut rot shit made from petroleum, is that all of it

So I make wine, and I do wine tastings and liquor tastings. The first thing to know, unless you're getting gut rot shit made from petroleum, is that all of it gets you drunk, which is what you're after. Wine, beer and liquor are lifestyle items. If they sold you this stuff on it's actual pitch you'd just grab the bottle closest to checkout and leave. So they have to differentiate themselves with lore, stories, stereotypes, whatever. But at the end of the day, it's all booze. What's the difference between a Jack Daniels drinker and a belvedere vodka drinker? How they view themselves, the type of person they want to portray themselves as and the stories the ads for the bottles tell. People will rationalize that they like it after thefact, and make all kinds of excuses to avoid admitting to themselves that it's vanity and they want to be seen doing it. Made 100% sustainably by an ancient family recipe triple distilled in copper pots using geothermal heat from a volcano in Nicaragua, its all a bunch of bullshit. Just get what tastes good to you and forget about the noise. I make wine, as a hobby. And I'll tell you, I'd rather drink my simple as hell fruit wine than any of that smoky shit the cute girl at the grocery store tries to sell me with samples. The entire wine tasting world is a sham, I don't mean most, all of it is a giant sham. And for those of you that do wine tastings and buy it, it's easier to fool someone than to convince them that they've been fooled. Just get what tastes good to you and forget about Tue noise.

jameshush 3y ago
Every human buys with emotion and then justifies with "logic" after the fact. I know this, and I still just paid thousands of dollars on a rock for my future wife's finger ;-).
- ksaj 3y ago
  You've made De Beers very happy. Just kidding. But try to resell it, and you'll notice a discrepancy that you've not seen in hardly any other product outside of NFTs. Diamonds may be forever, but their resale value sure isn't.
  - Spivak 3y ago
    Also they're kinda.. boring? Like visually appealing diamonds have become so commoditized you can buy them at grocery stores. Like it's not even a status symbol anymore in any sense of the word. You're the only person who will know if you have some super rare expensive diamond, we could play the game of "Is it Jared or Neil Lane?" most people won't do much better than flipping a coin. Assuming a ring is important to you the only things you really need is a metal that's sufficiently soft so it'll be comfortable to wear 24/7, won't rust, and (optionally) some stones you think look cool. My engagement ring is alexandrite and moonstone because I thought the color changing was cool. The reaction I get from people who see it is this weird combination of "wow that's so pretty" and "for some reason I don't think I'm allowed to do that for myself."
jdlshore 3y ago
Your world-weary nihilism is appealing, but I don’t buy it. Your core premise is flawed: perhaps you drink to get drunk, but that’s not true of everyone. Heck, I don’t think it’s true of most people, other than alcoholics. It’s not true for me. I can’t remember the last time I was drunk. (Yes, that’s a great straight line. Let it pass.) Moreover, it’s obvious that different drinks taste different. My wife loves vodka, hates whiskey. I like whisky, not fond of vodka. We both adore Crabbie’s hard ginger ale, which is an objectively terrible beverage (“glucose wine”) made palatable with copious amounts of sugar and ginger. I’ve got a case of it in my living room. We’re not exactly high-brow. Sure, there’s a lot of pretentiousness in the wine world. There’s still wines I enjoy, and wines I don’t. (And sugar monstrosities I’ll even admit drinking.) I’m not in it to get drunk. And that’s why I don’t buy your nihilism.
- jrflowers 3y ago
  > perhaps you drink to get drunk I like that your response to a comment that boils down to “Just buy what you like” is to (in so many words) accuse the GP of being a nihilist alcoholic. Please do go on about the “objectively terrible beverage” that you keep a case of in your living room though
  - antisthenes 3y ago
    People also like to emotionally justify how they're better than others. In some cases it takes on the form of a phrase like "world-weary nihilism".
    - jrflowers 3y ago
      BRB buying a case of objectively terrible glucose wine to keep next my couch in furtherance of my Jedi-like adherence to temperance and sobriety lol
  - jdlshore 3y ago
    OP said "all of it gets you drunk, which is what you're after"
Incipient 3y ago
>Just get what tastes good to you and forget about the noise. I think that's a hugely underrated point. Personally I really like devils cut beam as a cheap tasty option, and I much prefer it over a lot of the $100-200 options. Go with what tastes good to you. Price is loosely correlated at best with "tasty".
OfSanguineFire 3y ago
> all of it gets you drunk, which is what you're after. A substantial amount of wine is consumed at lunchtime by workers who most definitely don't want to get drunk, because they are due back at work. Wine is also consumed at monasteries by monks who are forbidden drunkenness. This beverage is consumed in more contexts than just for the alcohol's effects.
- glimshe 3y ago
  They should have said "the effects of alcohol, which is what you're after". Consuming alcohol in small amounts still produces effects that won't prevent you from working but are pleasurable (for some) nonetheless.
  - OfSanguineFire 3y ago
    No, as already stated by others here, what many people are after when drinking wine is a flavor profile or (in the case of some beverages served in summer) a refreshing quality separate from the effects of the alcohol.
- bradknowles 3y ago
  For the Trappiste monks at monasteries like Orval (in Belgium), they did brew a special beer that was just for the consumption of the monks. But it was still alcoholic, just lower in alcohol. Low enough that you would be likely to get full before you get drunk. I've heard the same for many historical wineries.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
    Trappist beers are now a (better) supermarket commodity by several different brands (All from Belgium). Usually with more alcohol than a lager, ranging from 2 or 3 years up to 10, and going up to 12%.
    - bradknowles 3y ago
      I can believe that of Chimay. They've always been more commercial. And maybe Rochefort. But Orval is doing this? Westmalle? Westvleteren?
puppymaster 3y ago
what a reductive comment. I am not going preface my reply with "i made wine" for extra cred but I do drink wine and love going to places like sicily, burgundy and ryoja just for walking around and touring wineyards. Once every couple years this happens and somehow it invalidates all the nuance in the winemaking world. You premise of getting what taste good is the right approach. Everything else is noise is unnecessary. There's a difference when a wineyard switches winemaster, or start using frappato to substitute for cab due to global warming. Or the 20/21 chianti classico is so different in profile than the rest of the previous years that's it's shaping up to what might be a golden vintage. or how 2020 from napa just isnt worth risking due to smoke taint. Or back in the 90s how mondavi and Michel Rolland almost ruined french wine due to everything being tailored chemi-made to be strong and oaky. There're stories yes. There're also technicals. And experimentations. Just like every other sector from tech to fashion.
hnben 3y ago
> Just get what tastes good to you and forget about Tue noise when I got into whiskey-tasting, I noticed that really cheap stuff (<20€ per bottle) always tastes bad, and average priced whisky (~50€) usually tastes good, and even comes with a lot of variety. If you go beyond that (>200€), you'll get the stuff beyond the taste, like exclusivity. But here is the thing: whisky drinkers don't hide, that higher price tags don't come from the taste. E.g. Stuff like single casks are explicitly about being exclusive. For me the fun with whisky tasting comes from exploring the taste, and trying to put it into words. It's less about "tasting good" and more about "trying out a new sense".

jameshush 3y ago

Every human buys with emotion and then justifies with "logic" after the fact. I know this, and I still just paid thousands of dollars on a rock for my future wife's finger ;-).

ksaj 3y ago
You've made De Beers very happy. Just kidding. But try to resell it, and you'll notice a discrepancy that you've not seen in hardly any other product outside of NFTs. Diamonds may be forever, but their resale value sure isn't.
- Spivak 3y ago
  Also they're kinda.. boring? Like visually appealing diamonds have become so commoditized you can buy them at grocery stores. Like it's not even a status symbol anymore in any sense of the word. You're the only person who will know if you have some super rare expensive diamond, we could play the game of "Is it Jared or Neil Lane?" most people won't do much better than flipping a coin. Assuming a ring is important to you the only things you really need is a metal that's sufficiently soft so it'll be comfortable to wear 24/7, won't rust, and (optionally) some stones you think look cool. My engagement ring is alexandrite and moonstone because I thought the color changing was cool. The reaction I get from people who see it is this weird combination of "wow that's so pretty" and "for some reason I don't think I'm allowed to do that for myself."

jdlshore 3y ago

Your world-weary nihilism is appealing, but I don’t buy it. Your core premise is flawed: perhaps you drink to get drunk, but that’s not true of everyone. Heck, I don’t think it’s true of most people, other than alcoholics. It’s not true for me. I can’t remember the last time I was drunk. (Yes, that’s a great straight line. Let it pass.) Moreover, it’s obvious that different drinks taste different. My wife loves vodka, hates whiskey. I like whisky, not fond of vodka. We both adore Crabbie’s hard ginger ale, which is an objectively terrible beverage (“glucose wine”) made palatable with copious amounts of sugar and ginger. I’ve got a case of it in my living room. We’re not exactly high-brow. Sure, there’s a lot of pretentiousness in the wine world. There’s still wines I enjoy, and wines I don’t. (And sugar monstrosities I’ll even admit drinking.) I’m not in it to get drunk. And that’s why I don’t buy your nihilism.

jrflowers 3y ago
> perhaps you drink to get drunk I like that your response to a comment that boils down to “Just buy what you like” is to (in so many words) accuse the GP of being a nihilist alcoholic. Please do go on about the “objectively terrible beverage” that you keep a case of in your living room though
- antisthenes 3y ago
  People also like to emotionally justify how they're better than others. In some cases it takes on the form of a phrase like "world-weary nihilism".
  - jrflowers 3y ago
    BRB buying a case of objectively terrible glucose wine to keep next my couch in furtherance of my Jedi-like adherence to temperance and sobriety lol
- jdlshore 3y ago
  OP said "all of it gets you drunk, which is what you're after"

Incipient 3y ago

>Just get what tastes good to you and forget about the noise. I think that's a hugely underrated point. Personally I really like devils cut beam as a cheap tasty option, and I much prefer it over a lot of the $100-200 options. Go with what tastes good to you. Price is loosely correlated at best with "tasty".

OfSanguineFire 3y ago

> all of it gets you drunk, which is what you're after. A substantial amount of wine is consumed at lunchtime by workers who most definitely don't want to get drunk, because they are due back at work. Wine is also consumed at monasteries by monks who are forbidden drunkenness. This beverage is consumed in more contexts than just for the alcohol's effects.

glimshe 3y ago
They should have said "the effects of alcohol, which is what you're after". Consuming alcohol in small amounts still produces effects that won't prevent you from working but are pleasurable (for some) nonetheless.
- OfSanguineFire 3y ago
  No, as already stated by others here, what many people are after when drinking wine is a flavor profile or (in the case of some beverages served in summer) a refreshing quality separate from the effects of the alcohol.
bradknowles 3y ago
For the Trappiste monks at monasteries like Orval (in Belgium), they did brew a special beer that was just for the consumption of the monks. But it was still alcoholic, just lower in alcohol. Low enough that you would be likely to get full before you get drunk. I've heard the same for many historical wineries.
- LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
  Trappist beers are now a (better) supermarket commodity by several different brands (All from Belgium). Usually with more alcohol than a lager, ranging from 2 or 3 years up to 10, and going up to 12%.
  - bradknowles 3y ago
    I can believe that of Chimay. They've always been more commercial. And maybe Rochefort. But Orval is doing this? Westmalle? Westvleteren?

puppymaster 3y ago

what a reductive comment. I am not going preface my reply with "i made wine" for extra cred but I do drink wine and love going to places like sicily, burgundy and ryoja just for walking around and touring wineyards. Once every couple years this happens and somehow it invalidates all the nuance in the winemaking world. You premise of getting what taste good is the right approach. Everything else is noise is unnecessary. There's a difference when a wineyard switches winemaster, or start using frappato to substitute for cab due to global warming. Or the 20/21 chianti classico is so different in profile than the rest of the previous years that's it's shaping up to what might be a golden vintage. or how 2020 from napa just isnt worth risking due to smoke taint. Or back in the 90s how mondavi and Michel Rolland almost ruined french wine due to everything being tailored chemi-made to be strong and oaky. There're stories yes. There're also technicals. And experimentations. Just like every other sector from tech to fashion.

hnben 3y ago

> Just get what tastes good to you and forget about Tue noise when I got into whiskey-tasting, I noticed that really cheap stuff (<20€ per bottle) always tastes bad, and average priced whisky (~50€) usually tastes good, and even comes with a lot of variety. If you go beyond that (>200€), you'll get the stuff beyond the taste, like exclusivity. But here is the thing: whisky drinkers don't hide, that higher price tags don't come from the taste. E.g. Stuff like single casks are explicitly about being exclusive. For me the fun with whisky tasting comes from exploring the taste, and trying to put it into words. It's less about "tasting good" and more about "trying out a new sense".