Last month bloggers got into a debate about winemakers. The question was, are there any cynical winemakers out there? I took away from the debate that cynical was defined as a winemaker that knowingly bottled a bad wine. I think they got a little confused so I want to put an end to this debate.

1. NO winemaker knowingly bottles a bad wine. People should remember that wine is alive and occasionally some bad things happen at bottling or during aging.

2. Some winemakers develop house palates and can’t taste an internal problem. I know a winemaker who has probably the best palate in the wine business. He wasn’t a great winemaker because he was blind to an off bacterial character in his wine. He was around it so much that he couldn’t recognize it as an off character. A reason for hiring consultants.

3. Critics never unanimously agree on the quality of a wine. Parker and Laube certainly had extreme opinions about BV.

There was also a hint that cynical could apply to a winemaker who makes inexpensive wines. Well, only a few people can consistently afford to buy and drink extremely expensive bottles of wine. Someone has to make wine for the rest of us. Truth is, Winemakers that make expensive wines believe they are making the greatest wine in the world. Winemakers who make inexpensive wines believe they are making the best wine you will ever taste at that price point. I don’t think there is anything cynical about that.