it’s so stupid that rich people give wine a bad image. there’s such good wine that isn’t too expensive and tastes like sunshine and walking in the grass in your barefeet
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You think maybe it's the risks ranging from alcoholism and the many negative impacts it has on so many lives and families to the unnecessary spread of cancers that might be giving wine a bad name?
Good cheese is the same way. You don't get a lot of the good cheese at once and so it's actually pretty affordable for most people as a simple, delicious treat. But rich people have convinced a lot of people they don't have sophisticated enough taste so they won't like it.
Any from Bellavitano are super accessible for people new to cheese. You can't go wrong with Gruyere. Midnight moon will make you realize you love goat cheese. Don't get President as your first brie. It's bad. I like Bota Box wines because they're yummy and cheap and boxed wine is underrated.
Coastal cheddar is really good (they have it at my Costco, not sure how widespread it is). Actual English cheddar, flaky with calcium crystals, nothing at all like the American-made cheese that gets called cheddar.
I'm sure there are! But it almost seems like "cheddar" is almost a generic cheese name here that gets applied to a bunch of very different things, of which most of the ones sold in supermarkets are waxy and similar to Jack or Gouda.
They're just young. And the milk gets homogenized so you lose the unique flavors of different regions and farms. But I assure you that they are in fact cheddars. The curd gets cheddared.
Second Bellavitano. Aged cheeses in general from Wisconsin. Jasper Hill Farm from VT makes a ton of great stuff (more expensive, may have to order directly via website).
Wine is subjective but I'm a big fan of txakoli/txakolina, a dry, slightly sparkling wine from the Basque region of Spain.
I constantly bang on this: a charcuterie board, even a high-end one, is more affordable than people think. If you properly store the cheese and meats, the food lasts for multiple meals.
Fun fact! Charcuterie actually refers exclusively to cured meats, but people have come to use it to mean grazing boards generally. That's fine of course. I just think it's cool to also learn what the word means in a technical sense.
My big gripe is the way retailers stock wines inconsistently, so that if you liked a bottle of X that time you and your date sat beneath the stars in the back garden, you probably can't get that label ever again (unless it's a commodity wine at Tesco, maybe fine or maybe just a glass-filler)…
you should check out my friend tyler’s book REBEL SCHOOL OF WINE! she is a longtime champion of regular people drinking wine and learning all bout it. she got me into the wine industry 20 years ago. i owe her a lot.
Yes. We live on the absolute best timeline for drinkers. I've had Bad wine, decent wine, good wine, great wine and half a dozen transcendent wines. There are some great wines in the $10-20 range. Find a few you like and, at least for non-special occasions, go with them. Mainly, drink what you like!
I recently started learning about wine, and it really sucks that some of the best textbooks--which are otherwise excellently written--take a sneering approach to anything that is not "great wine" (read: usually expensive).
I had serious FOMO about not being able to afford great wine for a while.
That is the one I am referring to! It's well-written, but the author does sneer a lot at wine she doesn't consider "great." And unlike some other wine books, there is not a section for looking for budget wines.
My Portuguese family has drank vinho verde my whole life, and it always felt like I was letting someone in on a big secret when I shared it with them. Feels crazy to see so much of it in stores, bars, and even venues now!
I had an Italian wine a few years ago that so surprised me! A kind of funky smell and matching taste that was so good. I've never tasted it's like again, and I am not one of these super palate tasters. I'm just a regular person who buys relatively inexpensive wine.
I’ve been a cheap wine enthusiast all my life, and the main thing I’ve had to deal with is not snobbery from rich folks but mockery from beer drinkers when I’m the only person in the dive bar holding a glass of wine
I know I’ve come across a few I dig, but there is so much out there that prices become a key tool to identify value (instead of taste) … makes grabbing randos in price range a crap shoot
You'd love the supermarkets in France. France only exports about 10% of their wine – the rest is consumed domestically. So you can get excellent wine, reasonably priced, at the supermarket when you're buying groceries.
We had some unique wines in Aosta (near Mont Blanc) including one that is the original vines that were not "spliced" with American vines like much of Europes wines.
Years ago, I was in Toulouse for work. I would just go to Carrefour, buy some bread, cheese, other charcuterie bits, and a bottle of wine, and I could eat like a king while pocketing most of my per diem.
look for wines on sale with a high score from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and ONLY the Wine Advocate. there are other good critics, but WA is the one consistently honest publication. if you see an 85+ WA score, it will be a decent bottle. don’t worry about trying to afford 95+ wines.
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https://sustainablesong.medium.com/did-you-know-alcohol-causes-cancer-67abd35f5084?sk=6b95fd29bbb5a8f7e45ed088324f43b9
Wine is subjective but I'm a big fan of txakoli/txakolina, a dry, slightly sparkling wine from the Basque region of Spain.
i think it’s always a good start to go to a local wine shop and hopefully find something imported by kermit lynch
I had serious FOMO about not being able to afford great wine for a while.
"CRISP WHITE FRANZIA HELL YEAH I FRIGGIN LOVE THIS BAR"
And to anyone who wasnt aware, liquor then wine is also fine just like beer in the clear
I know I’ve come across a few I dig, but there is so much out there that prices become a key tool to identify value (instead of taste) … makes grabbing randos in price range a crap shoot
We had some unique wines in Aosta (near Mont Blanc) including one that is the original vines that were not "spliced" with American vines like much of Europes wines.