vincentpa wrote:Eric Haynes wrote:Maybe the difference has been that I have been there to give most of their shitty beers a try, unknowingly. If you are just buying the good shit over the net, then it would be hard to get a bad taste in your mouth from Euro beers. Over there, they sell everything by the single bottle. Easy to fill a basket up with singles really quick and the majority sucked. The ones that stood out definitely stood alone, especially after drinking mop water right before hand.
I lived in Pisa, Italy, but took RyanAir all over Europe, along with long road trips on weekends. I think I could have bought 5 bottles a day over the time I was there, and never come close to trying %1 of what they have to offer. Unfortunately after I tried brunello, I was hooked and hardly strayed away.
I've had some rank beers in both Spain, Italy and France. I've bought some beers by the single before I knew better than to look at the date. The beer tasted like it was in the can for a century.
Your big mistake was ever trying Brunello. It can take a big chunk out if your wallet. After that, only the Super Tuscans can pass the muster but they will take you for broke. What were you doing in Pisa for three years?
Distributing munitions to the Jews. Seriously.