THE SO-CALLED "WINE HEROES" 

Fac simile
Fac simile

 

 

 

"I don't want

to belong

to any club

that would accept me

as one

of its members"

 

 

 

 

 

 

This quote is attributed to Groucho Marx. It was allegedly part of his resignation letter to Friar's Club in Beverly Hills. It was a piece of very incisive American humour (humor in the US).

 

Jim Budd, a very jovial and knowledgeable wine witer known for his expertise in anything Ligerian (i.e. concerning the Loire valley) and author of very critical chronicles on wine scandals and frauds, and of acidic portraits of wine scoundrels and rogues, has forwarded (on a social network) a post showing an acquaintance of his who had just been sent his membership card to the Circle of Wine Writers. This very honourable association recruits amongst professionals concerned with writing about wine and teaching, giving lectures, organizing seminars in the wine world and so on. Many of its members are reputed journalists and I flatter myself of having at least ten contacts among them, whith whom I'm in very friendly terms. So, that's not my point.

 

BUT ...

 

The same member added as a comment: "It's such an honor to be a member of a club that includes so many of my wine heroes".

And at that very moment, my heart stopped beating ... just for a while, I reassure you.

 

Journalists as "wine heroes"! Would you believe it?

This otherwise very nice person, I'm sure, has every right to be glad he was accepted as a member of this association, which imposes strict admission rules and requests two sponsors (one proposer and one seconder) before you can apply, no doubt about that.

 

Still ... We have come to the point, once again, where the "star" (wine heroe, I  say it again) of the wine world is not the ploughman or the tractorist or the gardener in the vineyard, is not the actual wine maker in the winery, is not the cellar master, is not the consultant oenologist, is not even the manager of the wine estate who may sometimes make the important decisions and provide the funding.

 

No, the person that counts appears on the tele, writes a column, gives marks or scores, speaks at congresses, lectures at tastings and, generally speaking, patronizes. I've met dozens of them, probably hundreds. 

 

The power of bla-bla and of fake image, the society of parasites!

Once again, I'm so glad I'm not twenty years of age any more!

 

 

PS: I know my irritation will attract a lot of criticism in the wine writing circle - if ever they read me - and will be attributed to

      bitterness on my behalf, caused by my own lack of fame and the level of my turn-over, which somehow still lags behind. Free to them.

 

 

Write a comment

Comments: 2
  • #1

    Michel Smith (Friday, 11 March 2016 12:14)

    I'm certainly not honoured enogh to be a membre of any club... And that surely honours me ! ;-)

  • #2

    Hervé Lalau (Friday, 11 March 2016 13:25)

    As mr Jones sung, 'We can be heroes, just for one day!

    I am a member too, although I'm sure I'm nobody's hero. Maybe the term was a joyful overstatement, but nothing to generalize about. Jancis once said we are like the lice on the winemaker's hair and she is right.