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Even super discounter Aldi has recognized it: "Wine is pleasure and food, everyday and luxury drink. Wine is as different as the people who make it, as the soils on which it grows, and as the grape varieties from which it is produced..." Not really a new insight - just an advertising slogan? Or is it something more? Wine drinkers have long since made one experience: "Every wine is individual and has its own character." (Aldi quote) And every "true" wine lover swears by certain growing areas, countries, grape varieties, vintners.... There are factions: the Syrah lovers, the Pinot Noirists, the Bordeauxans, the infatuated with Riesling, the South Africans, Californians, Barossans and, and, and....

Wines from all over the world are presented at the ProWein in Düsseldorf (Photo: P. Züllig)

Actually, we don't need this factional thinking. A wine is good - or not. But that's where the real problem begins: Who decides what is good and what is bad? What does a wine have to be like in order to be good? What criteria must it fulfil in order to receive a seal of approval and justify its price? Seal of approval (read: rating points) from whom? From Parker, from Hofschuster, from Gabriel, from Johnson.... And then there's price, usually interpreted as an indication of quality. Does that really work? I've had cheap wines that were far better than many an expensive bottle. Better? For whom? For me, for my neighbor, for the wine world? I find myself pondering.

That's where - for once - a posting (that's New German and means something like contribution) on the forum of Wein-Plus helps me. Barbara complains: "Unfortunately, I can't find any countries here that are outside of Europe. What a pity, actually. I miss Australia, New Zealand, America (North and South) and last but not least Africa (North and South)..." Do I really miss these - and many more countries? They exist, all these countries, they exist, in the form of wine that can be bought everywhere, even at Aldi. But they don't exist as tasting notes and scores at Wein-Plus. A shortcoming? My pondering continues: does it matter that much? Don't wine drinkers have the most important trump card in their hands: personal experience, their own - admittedly subjective - judgement?

Wine lovers at work - tasting round of laymen (Photo: P. Züllig)

Allow me to ask a question: How narrow (or broad) is our "wine horizon"? Or to put it another way: do we necessarily need descriptions, evaluations, recommendations, opinions of professional wine critics in order to advance into a wine region, a grape variety or distant wine countries? Isn't it much more up to us to keep discovering something new, something different, something better, something even better? Do we need the confirmation, the certificate of quality, so to speak, to be able to find wines good - even "delicious", if you like? Do we need judgements - ex cathedra - to think about wine experiences, to judge and perhaps even to talk or write about them?

Never before has access to the vast world of wine been so easy, never before has information been so abundant. Wine blogs and forums abound. There are virtual and real places where wine friends of all factions meet; where knowledge, experiences (and also beliefs) are exchanged; where wine and wine regions can be "conquered". The forum of Wein-Plus is only one of these places. Years ago, people were still discussing - yes, arguing - whether this or that wine was good or even better; whether Riesling was the crowning glory of all wines, or rather Bordeaux, Rhône wines, Californians or even Australians. There is no restriction - like in the wine guide. Even Chinese or Danish wines are admitted there. But it has become strangely quiet, not only in the forum of Wein-Plus, also many other blogs and forums.

A selection of the% that has rank and name% here from the Bordelais (Photo: P. Züllig)

Have you got used to being told in points and words what is good and not so good? What one should or must drink in order to be part of the illustrious circle of wine drinkers and lovers? Aren't personal judgement, one's own experience, one's individual opinion just as important - dare I say even more important - than professional assessment, measuring against certain - not always quite precisely defined - criteria? I'm afraid - and many things point to this - wine drinking has been largely standardized and professionalized. Even in forums and blogs, standards have taken precedence over experience. The "common" wine consumer has not dared to contradict publicly for a long time. Parker and Co. are beaten around his (or her) ears too quickly. Müller-Thurgau is just a simple mass wine, Chasselas is far inferior to Riesling, the world does not need Pinotage, interdisciplinary varieties are something for organic freaks and autochthonous vines are the pride of almost every region. That's the way it is, that's the way it has to be. Then there are all the bargains, the insider tips that are trumpeted from all over the world, strictly confidential, of course.

Not mentioned in any wine book - a vintner from Namibia (Photo: P. Züllig)

If Barbara is right with her "missing list", then it is not the tasters at Wein-Plus who are responsible. Their "work area" is Europe and even there only a selection. The "work area" of wine lovers is much bigger, it is the big, wide wine world, from "Australia, New Zealand, America (North and South) and last but not least Africa (North and South)", as Barbara postulates and adds: "After all, we are also Wine Plus members and there is good wine in these countries. That would be enriching and fair."

Why don't we enrich the wine world ourselves? Why don't we write - without any territorial restrictions - about wines we know, drank and got to know? Why don't we supplement the wine guide with what we have to say about wine; what experiences we have had - not in the lab, but in everyday life; where we think we can still find "really good" wines? Have we really become so accustomed to the fact that "experts", i.e. professionals, have to show us the way and certify the quality?

Discovering the unknown - tasting zone for professionals and laymen (Photo: P. Züllig)

Just now - as I think and write this - the computer rings. The "quote of the day" - subscribed by me - has arrived. It comes from Charles de Gaulle, whose birthday would have been today (the 112th): "The Ten Commandments of God are so clear and understandable because they came into being without the participation of a commission of experts." Perhaps this can be applied to wine. Something like this: "The only reason my wine consumption is so enjoyable is because it comes about without a commission of experts."

Cordially

Yours sincerely

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