Consistency and legacy is where its at ..

In the face of this so called economic adversity, im amazed at the number of super premium bottlings that still manage to be unveiled and marketed to the masses. What I find most astounding about this is not the fact that many of these high end producers are still producing their wares, still doing what they do and still maintaining their said course objectives and business plans but moreso that so many of these blockbuster, cult-a-riffic wines are nubies and fresh outta da box. They are more often than not born straight from hype and glitz than from anything that resembles what we as collectors and historians of the wine culture have ever understood and accepted as legacy or pedigree. That’s to say, those wines that come from the distinct geologically profound growing sites, parcels or vineyards or those that have been driven by the genius of a family or a certain individuals relentless, uncompromising pursuit of singularity and excellence. I can completely relate to why a J.L Chave Hermitage costs what it does or a wine from Jean-François Coche or M. Chapoutier... these wines have been around. They have survived through rough and tumble, through root louse, through violent countryside religious battles and so on. The wines have organically developed their rightful pedigree and resultant consumer affinity over many years. Folks who consume or purchase these wines regularly are paying for the fact that the producer has shown over and over again that they can bang out some epic wine right?? So, my point of contention lies with this seemingly ever-increasing list of wines you and I have never heard of that are demanding prices that of the aforementioned legends. I just don’t get it. Creating a wine just to have a blockbuster in your line up, artificially inflating a wine that is dubbed with cult status as soon as its released on its maiden voyage to the consumer seems like good marketing but also feels crass, plastic…lacking soul, purpose or any of what is the ethereal, often intangible essence of pure-bred bottles of grape juice. Is this is like the emulsion verses digital skirmish in photography or the analog verses Mp3 in audio…I dunno. What say you?