I couldn't agree more, Dariusz. In the store we always say "there's a story behind every bottle" and those are much more interesing to customers than the technical details. (Every once in a while someone does get technical, but like you said, you tailor your reponse in a case like that).
I know a professional wine critic who says its always important to put context in a tasting note. His context is technical. Better to make the joke, as I did in my first published wine article, that a maker makes wine in the style of his current wife, then (flattering or not) describe her. More fun!
That's freaking brilliant. I couldn't agree more. I think it's OK to say something like, "This wine is a good match with red meat and is very elegant." But hearing fun anecdote about the wine/maker is far more compelling. Almost everytime! Especially to a non-wine techie. I love your article!
Thank you! I’m delighted we agree. I’m often told I argue for mere anecdotes. Imo anecdotes are not somehow inferior. They can be more interesting and compelling than those industry-sanctioned.
The scientist in me wants to caution that the plural of 'anecdote' isn't 'data', but go for it! Arguing by anecdote is perfectly fine in a lot of situations and makes one far more engaging, funny and interesting than a dusty old scientist. Yeah, baby, your article has made me so happy this morning!
I love it when I have an anecdote to tell about a wine (I really want to tell the one about the cross-dresser, but I cannot afford his wine)! When I was at Oxford my local bottle shop put notes on some bottles: "Davy Strange loves this wine", and people would ask "Who the hell is that?"
The staff would tell an anecdote about me in the wine shop, there were a lot of anecdotes about me and the wine shop, and the bottles flew off the shelf! They said it was their best marketing ploy ever (apart from 'summer').
Although I should add, if people then asked what the wine was like, the staff had a list of quotes from me. The one that was most effective was on a quite sweet Spatlese (of all the unlikely things to sell in the 90s). 'I' shifted epic quantities of it.
V. good. To my shame I have just written a whoel article abotu Donnafugata touching on history, art and literature and completely forgot to include an explanation of the name!
I think the key word to take away from all this is 'interesting'. Whether its backstory, anecdote, flavours, pairings, soil, or oak, just don't be boring. That's what will engage the consumer.
The point though is that a good somm, shopkeeper etc., will feel out what kind of customer they have and adjust their presentation accordingly. Just because you found the story of Donnafugata interesting doesn’t mean everyone will. Some people might rather hear about the grape or the vineyard.
I agree. My experience or preference is not universal. There will be people who want a technical sheet from the somm. I guess my point is they must not be taken as the consumer universal either.
Obviously being entertaining is also useful… Like the diff between reading a tech sheet vs using knowledge of the soil composition or whatever to craft a relevant story.
I just responded to C Eedes. facts are useful in describing kind of wine you sell. But imo few people are interested in soil, many in level of tannins. But the wall of wine doesn’t contain a spectrum of tannic wines. It’s the story that majes you choose wine a not b from the wall.
Yeah obviously of you are just like try this wine, it’s grown in clay, that is useless. But there are plenty of ways to use knowledge about the soil to create a unique selling proposition.
‘Just’ trying wine or ‘just’ enjoying it are, I suspect, by far the most frequent experiences of wine. The interest in clay and its relationship to wine is an outlier and by a distance.
This is where someone like Pieter Walker excels, he tells fabulous stories.
It does help that the wine is also very good which is necessary to embed that connection.
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Look forward to the podcast!
https://sprudge.com/alice-feiring-book-review-536.html
It does help that the wine is also very good which is necessary to embed that connection.
We really need an edit function on this site.