Superlatives, thirst wines, and ad masquerades
If wine adverts (all too often masquerading as “journalism”) are to be believed all wines are fantastic, perfectly balanced and go with everything, from tapas to tandoori chicken.
I agree that a wine can be appreciated regardless of price; it all depends on the context. But not all wines are fantastic. Hopefully nobody really believes what the ads say anyway. But who knows, considering all publicity that is hiding behind a façade of being “editorial”… Can the reader really always tell the different? Ad newsletters vs news newsletters? Ad sites vs journalistic sites? Certainly not always easy to tell the difference. That, in a way, is the main purpose, isn’t it…?
If one did believe in all those superlative words there would be no reason to go up in price range to have a bigger wine experience. There are no superlatives left for the over-20-euro wine. All of them have been used to describe the 6 euro wine.
In France, the producers themselves often call their cheapest wines, not “fantastic”, but vin de soif or vin de copains, wines to drink with your buddies or when you are thirsty (doesn’t sound so catchy in English). In other words, unpretentious wines that you shouldn’t waste any superlatives on. Wines to just drink while talking and discussing. No doubt with some charcuteries on the side.
Some wines demand attention, a small comment and some thought, but not a vin de soif.
However, I realize that the rules of alcohol advertising in many countries would not allow you to call wines either vin de soif or vin de copains. And definitely not to mention the producers own definition of a successful vin de soif: when the bottle is finished rapidly and you want to open a new one. But ad rules all too often seem to have no problem with ads masquerading as journalism.
Summer has still plenty to give – this weekend most French people start their vacation – so keep on enjoying! Enjoy a vin de soif, a thirst quencher. And enjoy a greater wine when you want something special.
And then a few words about our wine tours!
For the autumn, there are just a very few seats left on the Bordeaux tour. A fantastic wine and food experience.
It is also high time to book the winter long-haul wine tours. Both are very special experiences, truly once-in-a-lifetime, with exceptional wine, food and culture. We still have a few, not many, seats left on both: Chile-Argentina in South America, and South Africa with the possibility to extend it with safari (a must!) and golf. See more below.
A thought on how to choose your wine tour operator perhaps? How do you choose the right one? Should you choose a “normal” tour operator, a generalist, relatively cheap, but with little knowledge on wine? A “luxury” operator who has nothing but the most famous names on the program (where you will be greeted by one of the six employed guides)? Someone who makes one or two tours in a year? Or a specialist, a wine and travel expert? Someone who has organised many hundreds of wine tours over 15 years and who has written nine internationally award winning books? It’s your choice. And then just get in touch with us. ;-)
Enjoy the Brief, with more reading than usual for you to enjoy during your vacation.
There is so much to read in this Brief so keep it for later if you don’t have the time to read it all at once.
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief !
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