A Year Older, and Another Year Dumber

When I reach my birthday (57) I always tend to reflect for a moment (see above), to decide if I like what I see when I look at myself in the mirror.

I will spare you my reflections on weight and the growing bald spot, and get to the wine point – the Burgundy point.

In the ideal world of Steen the consumer, the Winehog should always tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but…

Is the Winehog living up to this in 2022?

To be honest, no. I choose to write about wines that I like (or wines that at least have my interest and a moderate liking). I avoid the rest, as a defence against the hopelessness of indifference.

Let’s face it: I focus on the top 10% (perhaps only 5%) of the best wines produced in Burgundy and, even in this rarefied context, there are relatively few vins d’émotion that I can wholeheartedly endorse.

To focus on the few, and quietly forget the rest, is my strategy. If you ask me to rate and test the next-lower tier (the next 5% or even 10% of wines), then my pleasant and polite side may well evaporate in Burgundy’s spring sun.

The truth is one can either be very picky and tell most of the unvarnished truth, or tell tall tales and remain on good terms with even the most hopeless producers.

This is one reason why I try to flag good producers whom I have not tasted recently in my vin d’émotion lists, as I don’t have either the time or the possibility for a visit. (And strangely, some very good producers don’t want a visit from the Winehog.)

Burgundy is small; everyone knows each other, and it would be unbearable to live here if you have annihilated people in print. This is not how it works; trust needs to be built, while hoping that not everyone wants to have their wines rated.

So until now, you have gotten the truth, even much of the truth. But the whole truth would not be popular in Burgundy, or the rest of the world. That being said, I do sometimes push my diplomatic limits, so read the comments, please.

I go to great lengths to say something positive about all the producers I write about, and try to find the best side of their wines.

And remember the 10% (or even 5%) rule: only the best Burgundy growers produce wines that are hedonistically and emotionally involving.

Cheers! Have a drink with me!

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