A reversal of policy for 2008

No, this has nothing to do with interacting with a foreign country. Hmmm, well yes, it does in retrospect. Bear with me for a bit.

My recent entry Fettered expectation was the realization that expensive, premium wines were not increasing my enjoyment. After all, if you can spend $40 to $80 a bottle, you can get highly rated wine pretty much everytime with a bit of effort. But there's too much expectation and mental buildup. It's one thing not to like a $12 bottle, but a $50 bottle is something else. Especiallly if the critics have raved about it.

And then there is the challenge of the "hunt" to find great wines at great prices. With an open wallet to buy $40-$70 bottles, it's like using a shotgun. (With a wallet that can buy $120 bottles, it's like having a machine gun.) And what's the fun of that?

And while I may never get to anjoy a first growth Bordeaux, a top flight Burgundy or a super Tuscan, I'll still get to enjoy some pretty damn fine wines.

So, as of know, I'm done buy expensive bottles, which I'll arbitrarily define as over $36, except for very specific exceptions. And since most of these wines would have been from France or Italy or Spain, it does have to do with foreign policy.