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Stamping out wine snobbery and elitism, one festival at a time
Most of you Dayton-area readers of Uncorked already know all of traditional reasons that the Fleurs de Fete has evolved over 17 years into this region’s premier wine-and-food event: the 400-plus wines, the food samples from 25 area restaurants, the great outdoor venue at Carillon Historical Park, the music, the highly entertaining live and silent auctions, and the, um … unparalleled people-watching.
Now, here’s another reason why this event continues to have such a good vibe: all of the attendees are on equal (if sometimes soggy) footing. No special VIP tastings, tents or events. Organizers of the Fleurs de Fete — unlike their colleagues who oversee the Cincinnati International Wine Festival — have resisted the temptation to make a few quick & easy bucks by setting up events that would allow a privileged few to separate themselves from the unwashed. (The Cincy winefest earlier this year offered a “Special Tasting Room” where festival-goers could, as the festival’s web site put it, “Enjoy High End wines for one hour prior to the Grand Tastings” for an “additional charge of $35 for 7 tastes.” As if the grand tastings didn’t offer enough wines?)
Why is that important? Because wine already has a reputation for snobbery and elitism that discourages people from learning about and enjoying this natural, potentially healthful mealtime beverage. The VIP events for high-rollers only just cement that reputation for snobbery and elitism. Wine doesn’t need it, and festival organizers shouldn’t promote it, even if it costs them some short-term gain.
I brought this up with Lynda Weide, vice president of corporate and community wellness for the Wellness Connection of the Dayton Region, the organization that promotes early detection and treatment of heart disease and cancer and which benefits from the Fleurs de Fete. Weide acknowledged that the idea of holding such separate VIP events “has been brought up” — but rejected.
“The philosophy of this event since its inception was to make it approachable to all people who wanted to learn about and explore wine,” Weide said. “We didn’t want it to be an event of privilege or make any part of it exclusive.”
I’ll drink to that.
Now it could be argued, I suppose, that the $60 price tag keeps out plenty of folks who want to learn more about wine, and while that may be true, just compare the Fleurs de Fete to other cities’ charitable wine events — many of which start at $100 before all the VIP stuff — and for all of the incredible food and great wines available at the Fleurs, our event comes off looking like a bargain. And Weide points out that the wine distributors and restaurants at the Fleurs de Fete are donating everything consumed at the event.
Oh, and one other reason to attend this year: at 1:30 p.m., half an hour into the event, there will be a tribute toast to Doug Simon.
The Fleurs de Fete will be held this Sunday, May 18, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Carillon. Advance tickets, which cost $60, are available at local wine shops through the end of the day Saturday. Or buy ‘em at the door for $65.
See you there.
Mark Fisher
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Comments
By Nancy Bentley
May 16, 2008 6:24 PM | Link to this
Bravo to the organizers for the tribute toast to Doug Simon, who is truly missed.By John
May 16, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this
Arthur, Let us not take another moment of your time to define any word. This is a fund-raising event and it is the best in our area, humble Dayton, Ohio, not the Central Coast of California. Mark does a great job of candidly reporting useful news about the wine industry. And Mark does not have any tee-shirts or ball caps or mouse pads for sale. Have a nice day.By Jay
May 16, 2008 3:03 PM | Link to this
Great column. Wine is about taste and not about price - and all people’s taste buds taste differently. It is a drink to be appreciated by all - but preferably in the company of family & good friends.By Arthur, redwinebuzz.com
May 16, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this
Mark, Let’s take a moment to define “elitism” and “snob”, “snobbery” and “snobbishness” as it pertains to wine. These words are quite a straw man phenomenon.