Can a person hate something while simultaneously recognizing its value? That’s exactly how I feel about social media. I view the content I post online as a necessary evil. If you don’t exist online in the year 2023, do you even exist IRL? (That’s “in real life” for you boomers and fellow social media disparagers.)
I don’t know why I’m such a hater. There are food and wine influencers who are using their platform to do beautiful things, like spotlight mom-and-pop restaurants or showcase lesser-known grapes and wine-growing regions.
The ones that I think are dangerous are the rankers and reviewers who oversimplify what it means to enjoy food or drink — many times out of context. In these 90-seconds-or-less clips, an influencer will distill a dining experience, or often, a single dish or drink into a cold, calculated number on a scale of 1 to 10. They’ll use yes/no propositions as attention grabbing headlines like, “is the prix fixe menu at the new restaurant worth it?” If the answer is “no,” what happens to the cooks, servers and farmers and purveyors who supply the restaurant?
Obtuse rating systems are not a new phenomenon — the 100-point wine scale was introduced in the 1970s — but now, they are uploaded instantly via screen, on video reels voiced-over trendy songs, rather than printed on glossy magazines and distributed monthly via snail mail.
Domaine De Marquiliani, “Gris De Marquiliani,” Vin De Corse Rosé, France
I realize this is hypocritical following my soapbox rant on hot takes and rankings, but I’ll write it anyway: This just might be my favorite rosé on the planet. Not only because of how it begs to be gulped, but because it demanded I pay attention to unfamiliar grapes and spurred my love of wines from an entire island. The principal grape is Sciaccarellu from the island of Corsica — an island that produces rosé in many styles. This one is ethereal, almost weightless, with stony minerals, fruit, spice and herb — impossible to describe in one sentence. With all its complexity, it’s as drinkable as it is rare, as this winery makes less than 2,000 cases a year. Stock up before the secret gets out.
Cost: around $32/bottle
Cherry House Wines, Rosé, Paso Robles, California
A new project from Villa Creek, one of the stars of the Paso Robles region has just landed on the islands. Cherry House takes all the organic practices and sensibility of its parent brand and bottles it in an everyday drinker that is a candidate for your next go-to beach wine. Long before making wine at their estate vineyard that looks more like Southern France than California, Cris and JoAnn Cherry were owners of an acclaimed restaurant that bears the same name, so you know this wine plays well with all kinds of food. It’s a blend of Grenache, Falanghina and Mourvèdre, all organically grown, that starts tangy and bright with a sweet tropical fruit finish.
This makes them even more dangerous.
Remember, there are a multitude of factors to influence how a wine tastes bottle-to-bottle, day-to-day and even moment-to-moment. Our mood is perhaps the most important factor on how our palate perceives tastes and how our brain conveys them. If you’re actively searching for something to dislike, you’ll probably find it. In stead, drink these amazing rosés, full of intricacies and nuance if you are observant, and straight-up deliciousness if you aren’t.
Cost: around $18/bottle
Chris Ramelb is an award-winning master sommelier, and director of education and restaurant sales manager of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Hawaii. Watch him on the “Wine & …” podcast, and follow him on Instagram (@masterisksomm).
