Originally Posted by
SukiB
I have been ribbed on here a little for not liking Californian wines, with obvious and incorrect statements that I "can't have tasted any good ones then" and accusations of ignorance.
It annoys me that so many people rely on wine critics' appraisals of "good" rather than their own experience and preferences; quoting some 1976 "deathmatch" wine contest between Bordeaux/Cabernet Californian does not make opinion definitive.
I don't believe you were being ribbed for not liking something, you we're being pulled up on making this statement:
Originally Posted by
SukiB
Californian? Wouldn't' clean my drains with it.
That isn't a statement that suggests just that you don't like something, it's a general comment indicating that you believe that the quality of all Californian wines is s***. If you genuinely believe this to be true then you
can't have tried any of the good Cali wines because, as a stand-alone statement it is factually incorrect.
If I said that all Bordeaux wines were only fit for cleaning drains what would that indicate to you? Personal taste or ignorance? I'd suggest it would be ignorance.
As for people relying on "critics", who were you referencing in this statement (which, incidentally, is also factually incorrect and a generalisation)?
Originally Posted by
SukiB
No offence, but Californian wines are not considered 'quality" over this side of the pond.
Which group of people are you using to back up that statement?
Sure, some Cali wines are true dross and in no way could they be classified as "quality" but why tar the whole region with a single brush?
Originally Posted by
SukiB
As I said, it's a matter of preference and opinion. I can't stand the stuff, nor the Hungarian premium wines (I live part of my life in Budapest) and this is personal. It's not necessarily an indication of one's knowledge or experience.
There's a big difference between not being able to "stand the stuff" (in my case Whisky and numerous other spirits) and considering something to only be fit for drain cleaning purposes. I really don't like any of the single malts I've been given to try (although I'm told that some are of truly excellent quality) but that doesn't mean I think they're only fit for the sink.