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It is all just a matter of taste...

It always amazes to watch people play this "mines great, yours sucks" game, be it bourbon, wine, beer or most anything else.

I annually sit as a judge for the VinoChallenge International. The competition evaluates 1500+ wines from all over the world. The makers and brokers submit the wines in hopes of earning a "medal" to use as recognition of their quality. The judges are wine makers, people in the wine and spirits industry, and invited others. These are by and large knowledgable people with discerning palates. We sit in groups of 5-7 judges per table, and we evaluate wines in flights of 6. We are urged to judge their merits and awards bronze, silver, gold, or a rare double gold if and as the wines merit.

This alway brings a point of disagreement among the judges. One camp if firmly in the "a great wine stands on its own regardless of its price". I am in the other camp that says "My expectations for a $100 bottle wine are far different from a $10 bottle of wine". I want to know the price point, and some other s don't. If we are tasting $8 Italian Pinot Gris, and I find one that I'd gladly have another glass, then it rates a medal. If I'd seek it out and buy it myself, then that's silver. If I'd want a case, then that's gold for sure. On the other hand, if we are Terraza Melbecdoing classified growth Bordeaux, I expect I'd enjoy most each and every one of them down to the last drop. To get a medal, they better sit either as a classic example of the style, and/or shine above the others.

I was judging just 3 weeks ago, and one guy on our panel would not award a medal to anything. On an 10 point scale, he was giving 4s and 5s. Criteria for a medal starts at 7. Nothing impressed him. So to make conversation, I asked him what he'd had recently that liked. He proceeds to pull out his phone and show me pictures of labels he's been tasting and it is a Hall of Fame of the best wines in the world. Cheval Blanc, Opus One, Penfolds Grange, LaTour, and a dozen others that mere mortals can never afford or would ever choose to drop hundreds of dollars retail on. I flatly told him that if that's his standard, no wine that we were judging would ever measure up to that. He kind of shrugged, but did loosen up his criteria after that.

People can be label snobs about things other than food and drink. I was getting into the audiophile scene back in the 1980s, and that bunch hung on every word from Julian Hirsch in his magazine reviews. He'd tests amps and speakers and turntable cartridges (yeah, going way back) and record his electronic measurements and readings and then rate the equipment. Audiophiles are as snobby as wine people when it comes to labels. As the snobbery seemed to be getting out of hand, Hirsch wrote an article that basically said while looking at the numbers is useful and fun, it's all about how it sounds to you in your living room. If it sounds good, then it is good. Period.

That goes for bourbon, scotch, wine or anything like it. If it tastes good to you, it is good - for you. I like blondes and you dig redheads? More power to you. Doesn't make you wrong, just leaves more blondes for me.

Blind tests are the best. You don't know what's what and can let your taste buds do the talking without prejudice.

There is no big skill in finding a good $100 bottle of Napa Cab or single barrel bourbon. The treasure is finding the $20 bottle that floats your boat. They are out there, and what you find as great, someone else might not like. So be it. You snobs need to get off your high horse and believe it.

Couple of on sale pickups this afternoon. Total < $65.

I need your address.....I should be there in about three days, maybe four tops.