The other day I was in a giant wine warehouse. Came across a beautiful display for Dom Perignon Champagne. They were being sold at a discount at $125 a bottle. That price point is acceptable and even encouraged because after all Dom Perignon is the best? Says who? I mean I've seen the Yin Yang Twins on MTV cribs boast about it's polite texture and subtle aftertones but these also the same guys who wrote a song about "whistlin' while ya twerk". That's a song about oral sex. Though I'd point that out. 

Look, play around with this thought experiment. Take a fictional bottle of

"Don Fanucci."

It sells for $90 a bottle and is rated by wine experts as a good bottle of champagne. Unless you were a wine counesseur I'm willing to bet that you would have a helluva time telling the difference between this and the Perignon in a blind taste test. But chances are you are willing to pay more for a bottle of Dom Peringon, because afterall-- it's the best in the world! (Or so their marketing team has convinced you into believing). Hell I bet if I served you a cold glass of Andre ($4 champagne) out of a Dom Peringon bottle you'd be happy as hell.

It's bullshit and it works, and we love it. That's the beauty of what we do. The problem is being able to identify it every time. And I'm still pretty bad at it---and I do this for a living. Happy New Year everyone.