A version of this article appeared previously in the San Jose Mercury News:

Wine drinkers – not to mention wine writers and sommeliers – often have strong opinions about wines. They know what they like, and they’re often even more strident about what they don’t like.

No problem there. But sometimes the back and forth, particularly online, takes on a nasty, even personal, tone. The various factions line up for battle and demand that you pick a side. There have been a couple of illuminating examples in recent months.

One example was the reaction to the news that the fast-growing Meiomi pinot noir brand had been sold to Constellation Brands for an astonishing $315 million, in a deal that included no vineyards. The brand, which also includes a little chardonnay, was on pace to sell more than 700,000 cases in 2015. (In 2010, sales were 90,000 cases.)

The knock on Meiomi pinot noir in some quarters is that the wine is noticeably sweet (though I would argue not oppressively so, like some reds on the market) and is too generic. It’s not really my cup of tea – er, glass of wine – but I can see its appeal, especially at $20-$25 a bottle.

But a lot of comments online deriding the wine also implied that people who like it are too stupid or unsophisticated to care about the wine’s possible shortcomings.

The online divide also was apparent after a New York Times Magazine article about In Pursuit of Balance, a group I’ve written about that promotes pinot noirs and chardonnays that are more restrained, with lower alcohol and higher acidity, and attempt to reflect the place where the grapes were grown.
Although I generally have admired the wines that the group pours at its events – I tend to prefer wines that are more delicate and fresh, rather than big, bold, jammy wines — I’ll admit that the group does have a self-righteous streak. What constitutes balance? If you’re not a member of the group, are your wines unbalanced?

But rather than just agreeing to disagree, some fans of bigger wines have felt the need to strike back. Robert M. Parker, once this country’s most powerful wine critic, has called people who prefer more delicate wines the “anti-flavor wine elite.” In a more pointed critique, calling out one of IPOB’s founders, Parker has written, “No serious person pays any attention to Raj Parr and his zealots.” The jabs don’t end with Parker. Some online commenters have referred condescendingly to IPOB producers as the “cool kids’ club.”

This sort of “us vs. them” isn’t new. There’s been a long-running dispute over “natural wine.” Its proponents can’t even agree on a definition of what’s “natural,” but they imply that most wines are somehow unnatural.

All this posturing ignores the fact that most wine drinkers simply don’t care. They want a wine that is delicious and offers good value. Not every wine has to be thought-provoking.

I admire a lot of tiny wine producers who diligently try to make distinctive wines with a sense of place. But the fact that a winery is small isn’t necessarily a guarantee of quality. Nor should you assume that all large wine companies produce generic plonk. Big companies like Gallo, Jackson Family and Constellation produce some outstanding wines. These aren’t simply “wine factories,” as some of the cognoscenti would have you believe. I will happily drink a well-made, delicious, large-production wine.
In other words, I love a grower Champagne from Rene Geoffroy, but I wouldn’t say no to a glass of Moet & Chandon.

It’s true that there are some wines that are flawed or just plain inferior, in all price categories. But most wine these days is technically sound. In most cases, it comes down to your preference and budget.

In the New York Times Magazine article, writer Bruce Schoenfeld posed a question: “Should oenologists try to make beverages that are merely delicious? Or should the ideal be something more profound and intellectually stimulating? Are the best wines the equivalent of Hollywood blockbusters or art-house films? And who gets to decide?”

To which I would reply: Decide for yourself. We have more choices than ever these days, and there’s plenty for everyone.