A phone call had me heading off to help a mate sort out some internet connectivity problems. The Barra had just changed his ISP arrangements and things weren't working as they should have done, so it was a case of Hughesy To The Rescue. and once the problem was sorted the pair of us sat back chewing the fat in a wide-ranging discussion.
I've been drinking Australian wine, with the odd import thrown in, for close to forty years, and have become convinced, over that time that in general Australian wine consistently provides outstanding value for money with a lot of very good wine available at a very reasonable price point.
And that's without going into cleanskins.
It means, for instance, that I've been able to work to a long-term price per bottle average below the $10 mark, and that's after I've bought assorted bottles ranging in price from the high teens to just over fifty.
As some of the financial constraints from the past couple of years are removed from the day to day equation, I'll be in a position to increase the average, possibly, over time, as high as the $20 mark, though if it does reach that point it'll take some time to get there.
That does, however, have a few implications for what I'm likely to be posting in these parts.
It's more than likely that many of those who read postings on a Telstra BigBlog site fall into the 60% of 3500 wine consumers in an AC Nielsen survey saw themselves as novices, or only slightly knowledgeable about wine.
I'm somewhere towards the other end of the scale, though whether I'd fit into the 5% who regard themselves as expert or very knowledgeable. For a start when it comes to the finer points of overseas labels I am Sergeant Schultz.
These days, most of the wine I drink comes from The Wine Society, a couple of winery-related wine clubs and mailing lists from wineries that 'Er Indoors and I have visited over the past couple of years on visits to north-east Victoria, Tasmania and the Clare Valley in South Australia.
While I generally make a point of wandering through one of the local liquor barns once a week to see what's on special, that's more the result of long standing habit rather than an intention to actually buy something, since there's usually plenty of wine on hand at home.
But you never know, there just might be something interesting on special, and it pays to keep your eyes open.
The average consumer, on the other hand, apparently tends to make up his or her mind in the store based on what's on offer at the time. That's going to have a fair bit to do with This Week's Special tags and the positioning of displays on the premises.
Consequently, if I end up reviewing something you're likely to find on special, that's going to be the result of good luck rather than good management.
The AC Nielsen survey referred to earlier reveals that the five biggest-selling brands in the country are Jacob's Creek, De Bortoli, Wolf Blass, Brown Brothers and cleanskins, which aren't really a brand at all but comprise such a substantial chunk of the marketplace to warrant consideration as if they were.
Of those, the only label that's likely to figure in anything I post here would be Brown Brothers, and even there I'm more likely to be looking at a cellar door release rather than one of their top selling brands.
So why should I bother posting anything at all?
For a start, someone might find it useful.
Second, I need an exercise in short focused writing rather than the lengthy rambles that I tend to churn out.
Thirdly, I can use some of this stuff in sections of the other website, or bits of things from the other website over here.
Most importantly, it might just draw some attention to products that are worthy of wider recognition and could, more than likely, be ignored in the current big brand discount driven marketplace.
Thursday, 7 May 2009