My friend and I piled into the bus for a fantastic day of drinking wine and seeing a winery in action. But there was something that bothered me. Missed by many others, it was an off-the-cuff comment that struck me the wrong way.
When we finished touring the Hungarian and French oak casks they use to age their wine, past the bottling line and right next to the Brut champagne display, the tour guide made a remark that really rubbed me the wrong way.
And by rubbed me the wrong way, it pissed me the hell off. After discussing how the bottles of champagne have a dimple in the bottom, like many other wines, she told the group that it was because they were meant to be laid down and aged in a blissful wine slumber.
What she said next disturbed me greatly. She referenced the flat-bottomed wine and said something to the effect of ‘this is generally what you guys would like.” I grimaced.
The drinking stigma of the college student strikes again.
She viewed us as just trying to cop a cheap buzz in the early afternoon and that we would pitch any Kool-Aid like swill down our throats as long as it would make walking difficult and approaching the opposite sex easier.
This brings me to the heart of this article. Why should we let these stereotypes continue? I know many of my peers who enjoy premium spirits, wines and beers. I myself often drink beverages many times more classy than I am.
I have friends who continually try new and different wines, searching not for the most cost-efficient rotgut available but rather budget wines whose quality exceeds its price.
Others I know do the same for the burgeoning field of artisan spirits and microbrews.
As the up-and-coming market demographic for alcoholic beverages, you would think that they wouldn’t try and burn bridges before they are built, would you?
But apparently, they do.
We are to be delegated to the soda-water beers, powdered drink wines and the shoeshine/varnish hooch.
So, dear readers, I urge you to branch out and try new and different things, as I have been advocating. This assumption should be broken, post-haste.
The fact that others are generalizing what we like for us based on a stereotype is wrong and I won’t stand for it. I sincerely hope that the company the tour guide stands for doesn’t feel the same way.
However, I won’t drone on and on with horrible and disparaging news.
I do have to admit that Casa Larga does make some pretty good wine, far above what I was expecting.
I recommend the CSV Chardonnay and the Casa Larga Pinot Noir.
The Chardonnay is perfectly oaked, slightly buttery and has excellent pear and apple flavors. The Casa Larga Pinot Noir has this Christmas-like spice of nutmeg and cinnamon that pairs well with this red fruit thing it has going on.
They’re pretty delicious, frankly.
We also sampled a Riesling (which was a little too sweet for me but would be perfect for others not as used to wine), a Pallido (which, again was too sweet for me and didn’t have a whole lot in the taste department) and a Tapestry (which wasn’t as smooth as the others, despite a nice fruit flavor).
As per usual, the e-mail is on the bottom of the article.
If you have any wine suggestions or any other suggestions, comments, complaints etc., feel free to let me know. Slainte.
Spolverino is a member of the class of 2010.
His e-mail address is scott.spolverino@rochester.edu.
