Is ignorance bliss?

"Wine writers live in a bubble most of the time. A plush, mollycoddled bubble - with rare, luxury wine on tap. We rave about one-off bottles, made from obscure grape varieties that can only be bought in a pop-up shop in Northcote. We root for the latest trendy, tiny artisan producers. We recommend crazy-expensive old clarets that only a handful of people can afford.

Out there in the real world, though, most people's experience of wine consists of picking up a bottle of their favourite brand at their local liquor chain on their way home from work - and hopefully not spending too much for it." Max Allen Life and Leisure in the AFR

Above you see a picture of what is said to be the most expensive bottle of wine in the world, and below it one of the cheapest. Well not the absolute cheapest, but getting near the bottom anyway. Assuming that the 1945 Burgundy has not gone off, I am sure that it is wonderful. But I'll never know. I shall never taste anything like that. Again

For twice in my life I have tasted such wines and both times I am sure I did not appreciate it because, not being a wine connoisseur, not even a liker of wine at the time, I just did not have anything to compare it with. Besides I was young - and on one of the occasions probably tipsy. That was at our old English friends' wedding. Her father was the butler to the Rothschilds of Cambridge, and as a wedding present the Rothschilds had given a jeroboam of their Chateau Mouton Rothschild champagne of the year of her birth. We all had a glass. However, it was served late in the party and I honestly cannot remember it, having drunk a few glasses of a rather cheaper champagne by then. My other experience was when I worked au pair in France. I was still a student and basically did not drink wine, and what wine I did drink would have been awful. But at the family country home they brought out a bottle of their vintage Chateau d'Yquem from their impressive cellar - well possibly a rival Sauternes, and I can't remember that either. Indeed I may even have declined it as I didn't really like wine.

Since that time I have grown to appreciate wine - white wine especially as I don't think red wine agrees with me. And occasionally I have what I consider to be an expensive bottle of wine at a posh dinner out - like last week's birthday celebrations at Mercers. And actually it wasn't expensive - I just looked it up in Dan Murphy's catalogue - a mere $23.80 for the current vintage, although it was extremely nice.

Anyway today I saw the words at the top of the page in the AFR's Life and Leisure magazine - a magazine aimed at people with enormous amounts of money - or people who would like to have enormous amounts of money and dream about it. I was encouraged by those opening remarks. At last I thought a bit of honesty and realism. For we, most of us, do exactly what Max Allen describes - buy a bottle of plonk from Dan Murphy's. The article was written about a recent tasting of Treasury Wines latest offerings - the major wine company in Australia and it sounded as if he might find a few really good wines at the bottom of the price range. But no. Here is what he says about the Lindemans and others of its ilk:

"It will come as no surprise to you (if you think that all wine writers are pompous snobs) that I found very little joy in the cheaper wines in the TWE portfolio. I thought the under $10 LIndeman's wines and the basic $12-$14 Wolf Blass wines were disappointingly insipid." Max Allen Life and Leisure in the AFR

And at the conclusion of his article he listed eight wines that he thought were worth looking at - the cheapest costing $20.00 (just two - Leo Buring 2018 Clare Valley Riesling, and St. Hubert's The Stag 2017 Tempranillo Shiraz). One more at $25.00, one at $35.00 - getting pricey - with the others at $40.00, $80.00 and $130.00. Now who spends upwards of $40.00 on wine on a regular basis? Or am I really a cheapskate? Special occasions yes, ordinary days no. Though here I have to say that my husband saw a lady buying a bottle of Grange - hundreds of dollars - for her husband's ordinary birthday in our local Dan Murphy's - not a special one - so maybe we really are cheapskates. Mind you one year not so long ago I believe the Lindeman's Bin 25 won some big prize over massive competition.

I do believe that the more you spend on wine, the better it is - usually, and up to a point. Maybe when you get above a certain price point you are just paying for rarity and snob value. Although I shall probably never know whether a vintage bottle of Burgundy is worth the probably thousands of dollars it would cost. Maybe Max Allen is worse off than I for he did remark that he found those Lindemans et al. wines thin

"Because I have fond memories of enjoying some of these brands in my early wine years."

When he had nothing to compare them with. When he had not developed a refined palate and been spoiled by those tastings of rare, expensive and arcane wines. I on the other hand will never know so am perfectly happy to very occasionally 'splurge' on a bottle of Cloudy Bay at $35.00 - or our recent boutique purchase of the local artisan vineyard, Shaw's Road - chardonnay at a mere $20.00. Yummy and it's even a beautiful bottle. Ignorance is bliss.