Striving for perfection

[RGSchmitt]

Hi all -

"With my PFW hat on, the original quote in French by Voltaire ("La Bégueule"
(1772)) is, "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien." It is commonly translated as,
"The perfect is the enemy of the good," although it actually means "The
better is the enemy of the good."

It's a concept than can cause a great deal of animated discussion - should
you settle for something that is not as good as it could be in order to move
on, or strive for a really excellent job? I think I'd worry if I saw this
quote where anyone was working on my car....

Apologies for going off topic...."

Not to worry. One view of this quote tells us to "just get on with it" and not wait until we have the best tools, the best garage, the best painter, etc. I'm sure this interpretation never crosses the minds of those expecting to win "best of show" at Pebble Beach, but I'd rather be driving a 90 point car (or less) than waiting years to create a 98+ point trailer-queen.

Hmm, maybe this applies to buying wine also, Robert Parker notwithstanding?

Bob (off to work on his "87 point" Vespa...)

[browning l]

For a while I strove to align myself with Parker's advice, with the assistance of a very good Chicago wine merchant...buying his books, subscribing to the Wine Advocate, and even having the chance to meet him and have him inscribe my books.

I always loved the adage, "Life is too short to drink cheap wine."

Alas, he overestimated the life of a number of '82 Bordeaux, much to my regret.

Now, with aging (and, probably, mis-treated taste buds) I watch the younger generation go through my prior antics...I wish them better luck and longer-lived tasting.

I could have had more work done on Red, but I'm quite pleased at what I have to enjoy now.

[johndschaefer]

Bob, while I am still a Bristol newbie if you ever need help with a Vespa that is one area I know well!

John

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by RGSchmitt

"The perfect is the enemy of the good,"

Bob, that's a really good saying. But where our own cars are concerned it would probably need to say, "Perfect is the enemy of good, and good is okay so long as it's almost perfect"

As for Parker and his maturity forecasts, with older wines I tend to look at when he last tasted the wine (or at the very least when the book or tasting note was published, because no one can guarantee what a wine will be like in 10-15 years time, not even Parker.

Lou, maybe that adage should be "Life is too short to drink bad wine", because price is not always an indicator of quality when it comes to wine.

I've been alerted to some real bargains over the years by Parker in the Australian wine market, through his Wine Buyers Guide (the one that covers the whole world and runs to 1700 pages).

He had tasted wines from some obscure wineries which he rated very highly. Many of these were back vintages which were already on the secondary market. But when I first bought the book in the UK back in 2000 it wasn't available in Australia, so no one in the local market was chasing these wines at auction. I picked up a considerable quantity of a particular straight merlot rated at 90+ for AU$11 per bottle, and several other gems at less than $30.

[GREG]

Ahh ha, I have been curious for quite a while as to why comments from the most logic, analytical and knowledgable members of the forum seem to occasionaly manifest as total bollocks !

It must be Bristol vino syndrome ;-)

And please don't make a science of alcoholic grape juice - It's good for keeping engines cool but real men drink bitter beer.

hic hic hor.........

Grog

[RGSchmitt]

Real men drink....everything