Birthday week essay 2022: There’s practical, and then there’s the wine business

$10 wine is practical; so why is there such a backlash against those of us who embrace it?

"I don't care if cheap wine is practical -- get rid of it!"

A really sharp guy once asked me if it bothered me that I probably knew more about cheap wine than almost anyone in the wine business -- but that no one in the wine business cared.

Not especially, I told him. I don’t do this to impress anyone in the wine business. I do this because there’s a need…