Poll: should artisanal be banned?

artisanal1.jpg
I was chatting with a friend the other day and somehow the crazy frequency of the word-du-jour, “artisanal,” came up. As in, you know, hand-crafted, made with care instead of mass-production. David over Goliath. I’m all for the process. But the word? I’m done with it.

I have plotted the worldwide frequency of the term above, not just in wine, but all things precious and artsy-craftsy. We appear to have a long way to go before the term dies of overuse.

So what do you say–should artisanal be banned? Polls now open!

democracy12
poll now closed

Note: the graph was hand-crafted.

9 Responses to “Poll: should artisanal be banned?”


  1. Note: my graph was hand-crafted.

    Really? 😉

    “Figure not drawn to scale.”

    What bugs me most about “artisanal” is that it’s used by mass-producers. Like the par-baked breads you can get in supermarkets. Better than Wonder Bread, sure, but “artisanal”?


  2. Heh.

    Indeed, fake artisanal is what has pushed me over the edge. We need a term for this: Faux-artisanal? Fartisanal?


  3. Fartisanal it is.

    Now, submit it to http://www.urbandictionary.com/ to make it official.


  4. Leave artisanal alone. Otherwise, what would we call cheese that stinksup the joint but we won’t throw out?

    Better target: “all natural.” As in Snapple drinks that contain pure high fructose corn syrup as the second most prominent ingredient.


  5. Grr, “all natural,” indeed!


  6. Hi Dr. Vino! Here’s a cause for you, leave “artisinal” alone. It’s a perfectly fine little word, kind of draws a lovely picture for you as you say it.

    Instead, start a movement to ban “paradigm.” I HATE that word! Don’t you just get the sense that 80% of the time you hear that word, the speaker has no idea what it means?


  7. Everyone knows Paradigm is a Napa winery, right?!!


  8. I made slightly less than 600 cases of mostly Pinot Noir and a little Cabernet Sauvignon during the 2006 vintage. The largest (sic) bottling was 173 cases. Does this make me nano-tisanal instead of artisanal? Not that it really matters!


  9. paradigm is 20¢

    Personally artisanal is much too long a word to describe the naturalness of the product.

    I like artsy

    Faux-artisanal? Fartisanal?

    ok, so … fartsy.


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