The Ol’ Drive By Sip And Spit (See The Underground Wine Line “Vinous Drive By – It’s The Drive By Sip And Spit”. SCROLL DOWN IN THE LEFT COLUMN) is being replaced by the ol’ plug and play. Hah! As I write this, the day has just passed for the time that the world was supposed to have ended. As far as I know, we are all still here. But, maybe some folks drank the Kool Aid believing it was going to happen? So what? Anyone who believes a prediction, just because it gets a lot of press, needs serious help anyway.

And, so it is with the plug and play. Who cares if one big numbers wine critic is replaced by a younger person with more capacity to keep up the sip and spit pace? That’s been going on for a long time anyway. But, judging from some of the press, you would think that we were going to lose our ability to decide which wines we should drink. OMG! What a fate! The end of the world again? No chance, but I hope that big numbers do not spread to vegetables or lots of folks will be nutrient deprived based on a bias for corn over broccoli or some such nonsense.

So what if the numbers on the wines are different? Who cares? You don’t drink numbers. You drink wine. And, does anyone out there really think that the precise big numbers are the holy grail and can be repeated over and over again without looking at the labels? If you believe that, then I am surprised that you have avoided the Kool Aid and are still here.

Maybe It’s Good For Taking A Bath!

And, if you bought wine because of big numbers and don’t like it, then blend it or get rid of it. If you bought it because you thought it would be a great investment and have not tasted it, well then taste it. If you like it, drink it or keep it. If you don’t, blend it, sell it, or re-gift it. If you still believe it is going to be a great investment, well then good luck! What about the potential down grades? The 2008 Bordeaux have just been downgraded by a big numbers critic to make room at the top for another vintage of the century with bigger scores. OMG again! Will the price plummet or not? What about the speculators who believe that trees grow to the sky forever? Will they panic and start flooding the market? If so, where does that leave the folks that are making all of these big numbers, high priced, alcoholic wines that believe that the music will play forever? Well, the speculators, the big numbers guys, and the producers are in this game together. It does not seem to be a marriage made in heaven that will last forever. And, for my money, I think they have about as much chance of being right as the guy who just predicted the end of the world. But, maybe there is one difference? The guy who predicted the end of the world had no skin in the game and apparently is now laughing all the way to the bank with the millions of dollars that some people, with more money than sense, gave him. But, remember he had NO skin in the game. Others, who have skin in the wine game, hopefully have stashed their bounty. But, if you are a player in the speculation game, take a sip of your big numbers speculation wine that you never really intended to drink. And, if you don’t like it, reflect on what just might be lurking ahead.

In Vino Veritas,

John Tilson