My oldest son, Michael, is home after his first year at college and had a college friend visit for the weekend. “S” had found summer employment at what sounds like a fairly expensive restaurant in his hometown. My wife was having a glass of wine with the steak dinner we prepared and “S” asked could he “identify” the wine.
With the easy swirl of the wine in the glass, like an expert, he sniffed for the bouquet, and took a sip. “Merlot?” he ventured.
“No,” Jane said, “it’s a Shiraz.”
“Ah, yes,” he quipped, “that would have been my second guess.”
Sure.
He proceeded to wax eloquently on the virtues of the wine, ”I can detect oak and …hmmm… cherry.”
“Yes,” Jane responded, “it is an oaky wine and I think I can taste a bit of cherry, too.”
So far so good for the newly hatched wine aficionado.
He went on,”Shiraz is stored in oak barrels and that imparts the oaky flavor and they add cherries.”
My B.S. search radar acquired the target and I could hear the locked on tone as I released a B.S. seeking missile.
“There are no cherries in wine,” I chimed in, “it can have a ‘cherry quality’ but they don’t put fruit juice in wine other than from grapes.”
“Oh, no,” S. responded, “they put cherries in the wine. I was just reading a book about it yesterday.”
“I’d like to read that book,” I countered, “I’ve never heard about fruit additives,” unless, remembering high school days, it’s a Boone Farm fruit wine! 
(Did you know Boone Farm wine is a division of the winery of Ernest and Julio Gallo!?)
“No, I was just reading about it, in fact, I’ve got it in my car,” he said unfazed.
In a few minutes he gave me his cited “book.” A three-fold-brochure that when unfolded measured a half sheet of paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″. Entitled, “Taste Wine Like a Pro!”, the five other panels were titled, Wait Staff Sales & Service Tips, Do’s and Don’ts, Opening & Serving Wine, Match Food & Wine like an Expert!, and finally, Wine Descriptions in a Flash!. Published by the Charmer Sunbelt Group, a national beverage distributor, this heavy card stock pocket sized brochure was given to him by a sales representative from the restaurant and was this kid’s sole source of information.
He read the Syrah description, “Pepper, spice, black cherry flavors.”
“See,” he said, “it has cherries in it. Although I don’t taste the pepper they put in it.”
Unbelievable.
Fortunately this rising college Sophomore will hopefully mature and learn that reading a brochure, and making one’s own inferences, does not an expert make. It simply creates a “brochure mentality.” The same brochure that explains that a good salesman is not merely an “order taker” and how to improve tips was the same font of knowledge for the “expert” wine information.
It’s good to discern between a “pamphlet brain” and real expertise. As the “business of healthcare” becomes increasingly complex, “experts” abound. And the scary part is many believe their own expertise, just like “S.” I remember years ago, I met an “expert” on HIPAA regulations. This so called “expert” had never represented a client in defense of a claim because at the time, there had never been a charge. Turns out, the expertise was the same as anyone could have acquired by reading the thick volume published with regulations, nothing more.
We must guard against trusting the judgments of “brochure expertise,” from others as well as ourselves at times! Overheard hearsay coupled with superficial knowledge is a dangerous combination and invites erroneous conclusions.
I remember attending a wine tasting once — a very pretentious affair indeed. But I remember howling at the one the descriptive terms for wine scent or taste, can’t remember, (or care to remember), which; called “cat urine.”
We’ve got a cat. I wonder if there’s a winery that would be interested in buying some from us. If only I could figure out a way to get him to fill a bottle.
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