But we’ve also been to plenty of large wineries that produce tens of thousands of cases and thought of them as boutique. The winemaker was still passionate about his/her craft, the vineyard manager knew every vine, exactly when to harvest the grapes, how delicately they should be crushed… the whole wine operation just had a sense of purpose that transcended the “business” of producing wine.
Perhaps boutique is more a state of mind than a number of bottles. It’s more of an attitude than a location. Of course, this makes discovering boutique wines a bit more difficult. It’s rare to turn around a bottle and across the back label read “We really care about what’s inside here”. But, in our opinion, it also makes seeking out and tasting these wines thoroughly rewarding.
So, what does it mean to you for a wine to be boutique? Do you expect it to be better, worse, different, new, strange… or maybe nothing at all? Does it matter to you if the wine is boutique or not when you buy it?
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