NotSoDoomedRunner
NotSoDoomedRunner said:
Anyway, that is just to say, I just think there are different distribution models, but you absolutely can find good beer and wine in America. I was saying earlier I went to some Texas vineyards and the wine was great, but the wineries have no distributor ...
Yeah, you're basically confirming what I said. I wrote:
"living in Europe exposes me to a spectrum of wine (and other fine things) that you really only get at expensive specialty shops in the US"
Here, I can go to a highway truck stop and get a tremendous selection of good wines (not that I drink that much wine!). And I think it's because we've got France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, and probably a couple other countries I'm forgetting, all with long, ancient wine-making histories and a tremendous number of exporting vineyards. Not to mention my own Germany. So it's kind of a buyer's market with a huge selection.
I know you can get the best of everything in the US. But quality is expensive and you can't just pop out to the corner 7-11 and pick up a nice aged Chianti (and a box of local, hand-made gourmet pralines to go with it).
Beer: I was blown away by all the microbrews at the supermarket when I was in NY in November. Holy Cow. And they're (pretty) good, too! But, a six pack of 12oz mini-bottles costs at least $8 and anywhere up to like $15. That's insane. I buy a whole case, meaning twenty 0,5 liter bottles, for about 14-18 bucks, depending on the brewery/style of beer.
I live right on the edge of the area of the planet with the highest density of breweries per capita, though, so the slection of Bier is also tremendous. And like you said, the vast majority of those breweries are smaller, only selling local. German beers like Löwenbräu und Becks are not examples of what we actually drink here, lol. I also saw Spaten and Paulaner at the store in NY, in the expensive beer section - same thing.