I'm alive! Somewhere between a mini wine tasting adventure on Saturday and waking up on Sunday, I got sick. I was sick and I couldn't breath. That combination made for a holiday weekend of drug experimentation and fog. Today, is the first time I have truly felt that cloud lift. I'm not sure how much of my wine adventure is still left with me after all the sinus altering substances I have consumed, but I'll try to see if I can come up with some lessons from the day spent on east Texas roads.
Without a doubt, the biggest lesson I learned this weekend is that you don't have to spend thousands of dollars on stainless steal holding tanks and solid oak barrels in order to open a winery. I learned that its all that pricey equipment that makes boutique wine cost between $25 and $30 a bottle. I learned that you can accomplish the same essential process using plastic barrels that are usually used to make things like orange juice. That this kind of second hand equipment makes it possible for a boutique wine maker, who no doubt loves his craft, to charge a mere $8 a bottle.
I came away from that experience, having tasted the plastic wine, and listened to the wine maker explain his love with a new appreciation for the expensive equipment. I know every word from that wine maker's mouth was meant to make us see that we have been ripped off all these years. That these wine boutiques are blowing money on "over priced" equipment and passing the costs on to us. I learned this weekend that not all wine is created equal. One processes is not as good as the next. Yes, it is possible to make wine in a plastic barrels, but if you want to enjoy a glass of boutique wine with dinner, $25 might be a good price to pay.
This was an interesting lesson for me. I'm not a wine connoisseur. When I buy wine to take to a party I usually follow two main guidelines: Label and Price. The bottle has got to have a cute label, and if the wine is apply named, its even better. The last bottle of wine I bought was named "Procrastination" and it cost less than $8. How could I have passed that one up? Point being, I have had my share of massed produced cheap wine. I have no idea how they make it, but I have a feeling that its not made in plastic.
And now that I've ranted about plastic wine I feel rather shallow, but I can't help it. I turned on the news this morning to hear the BurnTheKoranGuy making demands and our public officials all but begging him on bended knee to reconsider his actions. I'm tired of thinking. I'm tried of trying to form reasonable arguments with unreasonable people. I'm just done. Can we not, as rational people, just all agree that the terrorist of Al-Qaeda do not represent all Muslims and Muslim nations and the wacko BurnTheKoranGuy and his church do not represent all Christians in America? Apparently we can't.
So for now, while I feel like mental Swiss cheese I just want to laugh at plastic wine and the good intentions of the man who makes it.
6 comments:
I'm not a wine drinker (I think all alcohol tastes like Nyquil - makes Dr. M crazy), but, yes, I think the big wine makers don't use expensive equipment simply to gouge the consumer. Additionally, I think it's the grapes that make the wine regardless of its container. :)
And YES to the burning man. Sheesh!
Plastic wine sounds awful. I guess I drink milk and water that come in plastic containers, but still...plastic wine? Ick.
I'm with you on the crazy guy with the Civil War mustache. He just wants attention and he's getting plenty of it.
Dana - You are right about the importance of grapes in wine. I started to write about, but it made the post too rambally.
Margert - I think you are right about the attention thing. I'm so sick of hearing our President address these kinds of wack jobs. Seriously not helpful.
I hope the weekend brought you much rest and relaxing, without too much heavy thinking.
I'm tired of the fact that most of the people that make the news seem to be lunatics. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only sane one left. It's good to know there's others out there!
I hope you're feeling much better, what a dismal adventure!
I take it that something in the plastic leeched into the wine, and caused you to become ill?
I don't have a sophisticate wine palate, at all. I like dry, white wines, and the occasional dessert Riesling but other than that? I just don't have a lofty enough palate to make wine worth it.
So I drink Vodka :-) Hehe, that sounds awful!! But it's entirely true, when I drink I tend to drink mixed drinks. A screwdriver made with raspberry vodka is more my cup of tea.
I know, doesn't that make it sound as if I should be wandering my way towards some sort of meeting? After all, declaring "Vodka is my spirit of choice." causes raised eyebrows. I guess I should add, I don't actually drink much and I didn't drink at all for most of my life (it gave me migraines).
Just saying, if you need company in giving Wine, plastic or any other variety, the hairy eyeball? I'm your gal.
I am glad you're feeling better, that sounds like a dreadful week.
Great read thhanks
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