The Auswine Forum

That was the title of an article in the Herald Sun by Shane Wright which then went on to describe the shortfall in tonnage in the 2003 vintage (smallest for 6 years) and a bunch of other statistics on production and export.

There was absolutely no mention of quality of the wines made from the vintage.

I don't know anything about Shane Wright, but he/she obviously knows nothing about real "wine buffs". Buying something just because it is relatively scarce is not the way intelligent wine-drinkers buy. Apart from that, the article ignores the likely sigh of relief from some parts of the industry collectively sitting on full tanks and cellars from unsold wine from previous vintages and the fact that the impending 2004 vintage may be a bumper crop again if the heatwave hasn't done too much damage and that growers are already feeling the pain of reduced prices and inability to sell grapes.

I guess people don't buy the H-S for the quality of it's wine journalism (I read a copy lying around at work )

Maybe he should change his name to Shane Wrong

The thing is that around 90% of wine is consumed within 2 weeks of purchase. That means 90% is sold to those who really aren't into vintages etc. So in essence his article is correct, the only incorrect part was the heading referring to wine buffs (what is a buff anyway?)

Anonymous wrote:The thing is that around 90% of wine is consumed within 2 weeks of purchase. That means 90% is sold to those who really aren't into vintages etc. So in essence his article is correct, the only incorrect part was the heading referring to wine buffs (what is a buff anyway?)

My point entirely, the heading had nothing to do with the content and the content had nothing to do with the heading "wine buffs", whatever your definition, it implied at least they are those that stock up on wine (eg to cellar for maturity), not those who drink it within 2 weeks.

I didn't say the content was wrong, just that it gave no argument for stocking up other than relative scarcity.

Brian,
lighten up, it's a lifestyle fluff piece, not a potential cure for cancer.

Michael wrote:Brian,
lighten up, it's a lifestyle fluff piece, not a potential cure for cancer.

Sigh, now I can't comment on lifestyle fluff that conveys a misleading message?

Maybe I only do it to lure you lurkers out of the woodwork

read the article and had the same thought as RB. Maybe Sahne wright is employed by vineyards to hype up the vintage and hopefully some panic buying down the tracks when it is released. Who knows what his intention of the article.

Who use the word Buff anyway? A bit out of date.
My 2 cents....

Rob

Rob wrote:read the article and had the same thought as RB.

Thanks Rob, I think he/she was probably just given the hack job of filling a space based on a press release of a bunch of dry industry stats and tried to 'sex it up' a bit (as seems to be the current term for this sort of thing)
Maybe people do see behaviour like the scramble to secure 98 Grange or other 'collectibles' as obsessive seeking to collect rare wines simply for their scarcity? Maybe that's true, but it wouldn't happen unless the perception of quality was there too.