How Income Inequality Has Erased Your Chance to Drink the Great Wines (NYT alert)

New York Times ^ | October 22, 2020 | Eric Asimov

[ccmay]

The problem is Chinese billionaires who buy grand cru Bordeaux and Burgundy by the case as an ostentatious show of weather. They drink it cold, mixed with Coca-Cola, if you can imagine such a thing.

In reality we are living in a golden age of wine. Excellent wines are being produced for well under $100 a bottle in many places around the world. Dry red wines from Douro in Portugal are my current favorites and many good examples can be had for $20 to $40.

[PerConPat]

And yeah, beyond a certain point, wine is nothing but a status symbol.

No doubt...Just as methods of conveyance, human companions with certain physical characteristics, homes, clothing, pets, jewelry, food and just about every other thing with a price tag on it....Old Thorstein Veblen gave it the moniker "Conspicuous Consumption"...

[Richard Kimball]

*****Thread slide alert!!!!!!!*******

When Jerry Jones paid Deion Sanders to lure him from San Francisco it was the beginning of the end for the Cowboys. He became convinced that he had an eye for talent, and was just one big signing away from the Super Bowl every year.

Y'know when I gave up on the Cowboys? Under Jerry's direction, the Cowboys had produced three straight 5-11 seasons. Jones couldn't get funding to build Jerry World. So, he hires Bill Parcells, and lets him actually coach. How good a coach was Parcells? He made the playoffs with Quincy Frikkin Carter.

Cowboys make the playoffs. Jerry gets deal for Jerry World signed. The next day, over Parcells' objections, Jerry signs Terrell Owens. Bill retires. That's when I quit watching the Cowboys. Later I realized I wasn't an NFL fan, I was a Cowboys fan, and quit watching pro football all together.

Cowboys run on the fumes of Parcells' teams for another season with Jerry puppet Wade Phillips as alleged coach. I never saw a Jason Garrett coached game, but did see a few clips of him icing his own kicker, etc. I don't even know who the new coach is, but the press conference when he was announced looked like a POW video.

[hanamizu]

Carlo Rossi Sangria for about $12 total.

---

Boy that name brought back memories...bad memories. When I was in college in the late 60s you could get a gallon of Carlo Rossi Rose for $1.50. It was called the pink death. At least that’s what it was called whilst worshiping at the porcelain shrine.

[Grampa Dave]

2 buck Chuck at Trader Joe’s and/or their red was good.

[Grampa Dave]

Also not bad when mixed with Diet Squirt!

BOL!

[.44 Special]

50% any old grape juice and 50% EverClear 190. You won’t care how it tastes.

[Karoo]

I’m thankful for what I DO have.

[PerConPat]

Good point...In the Navy, on shore duty, we filled gallon jugs with a couple cups of sugar, some yeast cakes, a large can of grape juice concentrate and water. Put a balloon over the jug’s mouth, and when the balloon had expanded appropriately, cut the contents of the jug with vodka to taste... We called it “cheap and sweet”.

[Lou L]

The great French wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy have been priced out of hand by nouveau-riche Chinese and Arabs.who only know big names and labels and want to impress others, show off their wealth or use it as an investment.

I couldn't have said it any better. There are plenty of great wines available to regular consumers. $20 will get you a fantastic bottle of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc; $25 a terrific Pinot Noir; and a delicious, full-bodied Cabernet can be had for less than $50.

I dare say that most people couldn't tell the difference between a $7000 bottle of wine and a $70 bottle; it's so pretentious to think otherwise.

[daltec]

I have said before and I will say it again -- Trader Joe's sells a $20 Amarone that is the real deal.

Twenty. Dollars.

Elsewhere, very good barolos can be had for $40-50. Brunellos for about the same.

Still more than you want to pay? Check out the delicious barbarescos and nebbiolos in the $30 range, or the many tasty ripassos for about $20-25.

Still too much? Classico superiore for $13.47. Excellent Dolcettos for ten crummy bucks.

Sure, some of these are considered "table" or "everyday" wines. But they are very good everyday wines. and when it comes to whose advice to take on which everyday wines to drink, you can definitely do worse than the Italians.

[Grampa Dave]

BOL

Gargle with the EverClear to kill any CV19!