Wine Festivals

Hey everyone,

It's been about two weeks...sorry for the time between posts.

We went to a wine festival a few weeks ago. A co-worker is going to one next weekend in NY. It's July, and in Pennsylvania that means air you can drink (like that rat in the Abyss who was breathing liquid). Is an outdoor wine festival a good way to open yourself up to new wines?

Watch Gary Vaynerchuk (HERE. He signed with Rev3. I fear maybe 2 of my readers know how cool that is.) He doesn't swallow the wine, he spits into a Jets bucket. Say what you want about his choice of teams, but he knows something important; If you drink the wine you will get drunk and that will dull your taste buds. It's the law of diminishing returns.

When you taste wines, where do you start? A good winery will list their wines red to white, dry to sweet. The sweeter whites can overpower your taste buds, and change the flavor of a drier red, or even a drier white. It's kinda like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth.

Right now I can safely say NONE OF YOU are spitting your wines at a festival, and most places are so crowded, you might try to work your way from dry to sweet, but if something out of order comes by, you'll grab if.

So you're getting drunker and ruining your taste buds.

Then, like I said, deep breaths in a PA summer can be like waterboarding. How much do you want an oaky cab while standing in the hot sun? No, you want something sweeter that can kinda' quench your thirst. I wrote it before, and a wiser winemaker once told me 'Sweet sells' and that's what they have there. Doesn't hurt that the sweeter wines are best served chilled.

These festivals can be a great place to explore wine, but too often they're more about getting drunk and wineries getting some exposure and profit from their sweet wines. I see the same thing with wine buses, driving a load of people to get liquored up and have a designated driver.

It's all one huge mixed message. Winemakers have to make money, but they're also (usually) proud of their good stuff. Sometimes you can ID one of the owners and ask them what they suggest, and get a special treat. More often than not they've staffed the place with friends and family who by the 4th hour are hot, tired and fed up with the drunks. They just want to pour you the 1/2 ounce and get out of there.

I'm all for more people discovering wine. It's one reason I'm doing this blog. I would never look down on someone for liking a particular style of wine. My question to you: Have you ever gone to a wine festival with the purpose of broadening your horizons? Have you ever said 'I'm going to see what the big deal is about Cabernets?'

Okay, so they can also be about hanging with friends, hearing a few good live bands, and tasting some delicious beverages. Not everyone has a desire to expand their wine library...they like Concords and that's it.

Maybe the real magic comes later, when you open a bottle you bought and share it with someone. We come home with at least 24 bottles every year, and I don't take notes. Every bottle I open can be a surprise. Had a heckuva surprise with a whole case (see my last blog.)

So, to get back on track, is an outdoor wine festival a good way to expose yourself to new wines? I think it can be. If you research the wineries, find what they'll be bringing, and what might be interesting...then make your way to them. Ask if the owner is there, and what they suggest. But that sounds like a lot of work to me.

What about you? Have you found any 'gems' at a wine festival? Something that shocked you, in a good way?

And that's Sean's stream of consciousness for today.