Hello Wine Lovers! After writing my last entry about wine fraud and such it got me to think about wine tasting in general. I asked myself if a wine's cost and status help determine what it tastes like? But before I get into all that (you know how sometimes I can get wordy) today's wine pick is a easy to find Chardonnay from Sonoma County, Chateau St Jean. Available at Binny's for $9.99 and worth every penny! You will find this wine to be a classic Sonoma County Chardonnay, meaning it displays bright aromas of lemon and notes of toasted hazelnut. This wine has a subtle elegance with a nice, soft, lingering finish. With warm weather just around the corner, this is a perfect patio wine! Now this is where I get wordy... does a $90 bottle of wine taste better than a $10 bottle of wine? One would think the answer would be a big fat YES! In many cases, I believe it is the expectation, and not the wine itself. In other words, the marketing for a particular wine, or it's reputation, force you to think it tastes better! I have hosted many a dinner party where I served the wine in brown bags and was quite (or should I say pleasantly) surprised with the outcome. Let's talk about a Champagne that I am sure you are all familiar with, Dom Perignon. It sells for, let's say $150 in round numbers. Another I'm quite sure you are also familiar with is Domaine Ste Michelle, a Sparkling wine from Washington State that sells for around $12. Now, this is where it gets interesting. According to the book The Wine Trials, 41 out 62 tasters, in a blind tasting, preferred the Ste Michelle! Does this mean you are wasting your $138 on the Dom? When you think about it in these terms, yes! Marketing has become what the old winemaker used to be. The winemaker would make his/her wines to express what the vineyard had given them, tell you straight up, price it fairly, and sell it to the public. Now, in my opinion, the new "winemaker" is the marketing department. Make the wine any old way and we will sell the public on a "lifestyle" add a sexy woman to the ad, show celebrities drinking the wine, and charge higher prices so the public will think they must have it! When a wine company spends more on marketing than making the wine, in the long run, the consumer will lose! The moral of the story, drink what you like, buy what you can afford, but be true to your taste, not your ego! Cheers! J