Vintage Story

Epistemological epiphany:
Life must be lived forwards,
but can only be understood backwards
Mercifully, life may be enjoyed sideways!

Full Moon: June 11, 2006. Allen Dale Olson a/k/a the Pontiff of Palate, Story Inn’s Wine Connoisseur. Copyright 2006 Story Bed & Breakfast, LLP, d/b/a Story Inn, all rights reserved.

WHAT’S IN THAT DIRT ANYWAY?

            In case you don’t believe globalization is a fact, start tasting your wines more attentively. Globalization is a fact in the wine world but not necessarily in the way you might think. Of course global name disputes have been with us wine lovers ever since Californians began making “champagne” and “Chablis.” Even though the World Trade Organization has scotched (oops) the use of such regional names on wines not produced in the region, we continue to see Burgundy and Rhine Wine made in New York and California and elsewhere. Just like genuine mozzarella comes from Wisconsin.

            But the impact of globalization goes beyond the name and involves increasing conflict not only between the New World (USA and Australia) and Old World (France, Italy, Germany) but between producers within the regions.  It starts with the belief on the European side that the unique character of wine results from the soil (terroir). On the U.S side is a belief that technology creates character. In Europe the traditionalists cling desperately to the notion that only the methods practiced for generations produce wines typical of their origin, but on our side, we too often think tradition inhibits growth and progress and that it doesn’t matter where the grapes are grown (though we have yet to see hydroponic grapes).

            Globalization enters the scene as producers scramble for a share in world markets, especially the U.S. market where wine consumption has taken off in a big way. Professional wine journalists and critics have praised the innovations in the New World that have resulted in big, powerful wines ready to drink upon bottling, and U.S. consumers, new to the game by Old World standards, consider such wines the norm and consequently are finding Old World wines too fine, too earthy.

            The dilemma for producers in Barolo and Bordeaux and the Rheingau is whether to alter tradition and make wines more appealing to the American taste in order to boost sales. Producers argue endlessly about this topic. American consumers don’t really care where the wine is made as long as it is what the label says it is and that it’s pleasing to their palates. Historically, the American attitude on just about anything has been that we can do it better, so why shouldn’t that apply to wine. If our technology can create cheddar cheese, why shouldn’t it also make champagne.

            Another piece of the problem is the American taste for fruit forward wines, somewhat sweeter than those preferred by Europeans. Increasingly we’re finding more and more Old World wines sweetened slightly for the U.S. market place. Anyone who has traveled recently to Tuscany or the Rhineland has found the wines they had first met in Chicago seem much drier on their home turf abroad  

            Most of this doesn’t apply to the really high-end wine buyer who selects carefully from great vintages with his or her depth of knowledge. But for the average guy or gal, Provence  might as well be in Korea or Iowa; they just want a good bottle at a reasonable price that tastes like pinot noir or cabernet or sauvignon blanc.

            In the wine world word we are now in the age-old debate about heredity versus environment. Soil versus technology. Style versus geography. In the long run, it means there will be a lot more affordable wine available to us, but it may also mean the loss of individuality.  When’s the last time you saw a bottle of Chianti in a real straw container?

Vintage Story is an e-newsletter authored by Ole Olson and published by the Story Inn, and is available free of charge to all who appreciate good wine. Vintage Story is published at each full moon. The author and the Story Inn specifically authorize the republication, reprinting and circulation of any issue Vintage Story so long as due credit is given to the author and to the Story Inn (which holds the copyright).

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