My wife and I love wine. We were married north of napa in sonoma county. Rented a vineyard for it.
We've had expensive wine and cheap and neither of us have ever understood the bs involved with tasting.
We have friends that we are in competition with on finding the best $15 bottle or less! No one looses! !
Reds, heavy, dirty leather...big flavor!
I think the article goes a little too far. OK quite too far. There's some validity to the elitist nature of wine tasting, but come on if you can not tell a Merlot from a Chardonnay then something is wrong. Merlot from a Cab, that's tougher, but generally doable. I prefer red blends leading with Cab. So, that being said, 90% of my wine consumption is under $20 a bottle, and Chris, I love the challenge, I haven't had much success below say $8, but between $15 and $12 you can do quite well.
DK117
Now wine with BBQ. I've asked that question many times with no definitive answer. This could very well be the one where whatever you like drink it. I'm typically holding a light domestic beer with BBQ. Tri Tip and Cab, fantastic. Sweet rubs or sauce just don't go well with wine (red) for me.