You know your bandwagon's got steam when even the French hop on

[stevebody]

Jesus Christ, you guys, I never said I didn't believe in terroir. I said it was "horribly overworked. I've tried four German Reislings from Heyl zu Herrensheim that came from four vineyard plots arranged in a 4 acre quadrant on one hillside, separated only by fences, and they were as individual as snowflakes. Terroir exists, obviously. What I'm SAYING is, the average or casual wine buyer - which is what makes up 90-95% of the country's annual wine sales; Dept. of Ag. figures, not mine - neither understands nor particularly cares about terroir as an element of the purchase decision. What they want is a wine that TASTES GOOD and that they understand. However that good flavor comes about is a pretty secondary issue. It's only us wine-weenies who become obsessively concerned with stuff like terroir, overcropping, malolactic fermentation, brix, and all the rest of that crap. MOST people drink wine for two reasons: 1) They like it, and 2) It services their self image and chosen lifestyle.

I spent a lifetime in acting. I know tons of stuff about technique, backstory, subtext, timing, and other actorly stuff - not to mention cameras, lighting, make-up, set design, etc. - that means precisely dick to anyone watching my performance. They want me to tell them a story in a convincing way and let them emotionally invest for a couple of hours. They do not care how my performance came to be, just that it did.

It's maddening to me that we lade the wonderful, sensual, intensely pleasurable act of drinking wine down with so many qualifiers, disclaimers, modifications, and obsessions. I have a friend in Seattle who is a sommelier (sp). The guy knows a hell of a lot about wine but, every once in a while, he'll sidle up to me and say, "Hey, if we crack open a bottle of something nice out of my cellar tonight, you think the four of us could take a solemn vow that we won't talk about ANYTHING related to wine? I just, for God's Sake, want to enjoy a bottle for a change."

It's also a little disappointing that you, Foodie, can't seem to brook any ideas that go against your own beliefs without trying to cast a strong opinion as invective. Consult your dictionary (to adopt a tone as haughty as your own) and see what the word actually means. There is an element of mean-spiritedness in the meaning that I carry none of. I simply think the French have gotten away with a lot of cosmetic crap and exhibited a stupendous resistence to change, seeming to believe that we will all ecentually realize that their way of doing things is correct and that, if we don't, that simply means we're unwashed heathens. Well, baloney. They make a whale of a lot of crap, in addition to their great wines, and they NEED to respect our preferences IF they want to sell massive quantities of wines to our casual buyers. Argue that point all you want. Won't change a thing.

And, you, Bucko - you're too damned smart to come to the conclusion that Batrhomeau and I "don't believe in terroir". Nothing in either post indicated that.