In Reply to: A Question of Balance... posted by regmac on April 15, 2014 at 12:33:49:
It's clear that you know more about this than I do. But the idea is that there are some basic principles that serious wine people can agree on that are necessary for a well-made wine. (Unfortunately I do not recall what those principles are.) These are assessments of aspects of flavor, so perhaps "objective" wasn't the best word. Still, the idea was that these are principles that educated wine people can agree on, more or less. Even if they don't especially enjoy the wine, they can at least agree that it has good bones.
That's the kind of thing I mean. Basically, it's trying to bar the gates before the barbarians enter. I'm not comfortable with the idea that every person's opinion is equally valid. Some people are demonstrably idiots. What's the word, plonk? no doubt has many great fans, but that doesn't make it good wine.
Getting back to the initial claim, it's certainly true that a review is an aesthetic judgment, but not all aesthetic judgments are created equal. And it is possible to believe this without being a sanctimonious asshole.
Jim
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Follow Ups
- I'm traveling so I can't pull out the book - Jim Austin 18:49:00 04/16/14 (0)