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Blah-Blah-Blah (con't from Home page)
On its face, the question appears valid. Why not put the grape varietal on the label - Nebbiolo instead of Barolo, Sangiovese instead of Chianti, Cabernet Sauvignon instead of Medoc, Pinot Noir instead of Chassagne-Montrachet, Chardonnay instead of Pouilly Fuisse. Wouldn?t this make it easier for the consumer? Well, probably not. In fact, having just the varietal on the label would provide the consumer with less information, not more. It wouldn?t tell you the most important thing - the region where the wine is from.
European regulations governing wine production such as DOC/DOCG in Italy, AOC in France and DO in Spain, give the consumer a considerable amount of information about a wine by simply reading the label. Sure, it?s an education process, but it doesn?t take much. Many people mistakenly think that these rules are solely about ensuring the quality of the wine. While this may have been the impetus for introducing these regulations, the major purpose today is to identify the geography of the wine. And the underlying basis for the rules is to reinforce the fact that certain grapes grow best in certain areas. In fact, the rules, in general, codify what has been practiced for hundreds of years.
Regionality is the key and it is more than just terroir. Terroir is defined in the Oxford Companion to Wine as, "the total natural environment of any viticultural site. Major components of terroir are soil and local topography (altitude, slope and aspect), together with their interaction with each other and with macroclimate to determine mesoclimate and vine microclimate." Essentially, in non-blah blah terms, it is about the individuality of flavours of wines from different vineyards. Regionality encompasses terroir, but also includes food, culture and tradition. It gives wine its identity.
Take Italy, for example. Food in Italy is as regional as are the wines. Cinghiale (wild boar) with Carmignano from Tuscany, cavallo (horse) with Amarone from Veneto, polenta with baccal? (salted cod) with Lugana from the shores of Lake Garda, osso bucco (veal shank) with the intensely flavoured wines of the Valtellina, and shaved white truffles on anything with the gorgeous Nebbiolo based Barolos and Barbarescos from Piedmont. It is not just coincidence that the wine from a region or a sub-region pairs perfectly with the food from the same region.
Wines were produced to be consumed locally, not to ship across regions, let alone export half way across the world. The wine and food from one region are distinct and unique in flavours and style from those of another region. And traditionally, wine was produced in Europe to go with food. It is considered to be a part of the meal, not an addition to the meal.
When farmers first started growing grapes, the DOC regulations did not exist to stipulate that Nebbiolo should be grown around the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco, Corvina in Veneto, Nero D?Avola in Sicily, Cannonau in Sardinia, Primitivo in Puglia etc., etc. They simply wrote into regulations what farmers have learned over hundreds of years - certain grapes grow better in certain conditions and certain styles of wines are common to certain areas.
The same is true in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. Burgundy has established itself as having ideal conditions for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In fact, the grape growers and winemakers in Burgundy are adamant about manipulating the grapes as little as possible to allow the specific terroir of individual vineyards to be expressed in the wine. So, not only will the Pinot Noir of one producer taste different from the Pinot Noir of another, but the Pinot Noir from one vineyard in Burgundy will be distinctly different from the Pinot Noir of another - even if those vineyards are in the same village. And, these producers are proud to have the vineyard/village on the label.
While you will generally not find the varietal on the label, the name that is there will give you all the information you need to know. Cote-R?tie not only tells you that the Syrah is the predominant grape, but also that it is from the Northern Rhone. It also tells you that in general, the wine will be powerful, brawny with lots of raisiny, dried fig fruit and a peppery, leathery-smoky scent - the typical character for Cote-R?tie. Cotes Du Rhone, Bandol, Piesporter, Rioja and Port also communicate similar details. As important though, is that each wine brings to mind the style, the region, its people, its food and its culture, which are all unique and distinct. Remember, great wines are not just about balance; they are also about typicity - distinct, unique and typical of a particular area or style.
This pride in regionality is becoming more common in the New World. While the same wine producing regulations as in Europe do not exist, a learned regionality is emerging based on what grapes grow best in certain areas with wines of unique character. The New World wine industries are relatively young when compared to the history of the Old World.
The experience, not necessarily in wine making, but in learning the specifics of these New World grape growing regions is only starting to emerge. It has taken time for winemakers and grape farmers to realize that Napa?s Rutherford and Oakville have ideal conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon; cool Carneros with the fog coming in from San Francisco Bay allows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to thrive; the best area for non-Germanic varietals in British Columbia is not around Kelowna, but south of Penticton down to Osoyoos; the red terra rossa soils of Coonawarra can lend itself to muscular Cabernet Sauvignon.
More and more, wine producers are taking pride in not just producing good wine, but by producing distinct wines representative of a specific area. Michael DeLoach says that after years of growing a variety of grapes, they now focus on Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Zinfandel because in Sonoma?s Russian River Valley, these are what work best. And the DeLoach family wants to ensure that the wines with the Russian River name on the label are recognized for quality and distinctive character since they were one of the first wine producing families in the area and Michael?s mother actually named the region.
Santa Rita?s winemaker Andr?s Ilabaca speaks with a tremendous amount of passion when describing the time and care that has been taken to ascertain the ideal regional conditions for specific grape varietals in Chile. The pride is as evident, if not even more so, with single malt scotch producers. Listen as they extol the virtues of Islay over Orkney, or Campbeltown over Speyside. They go on about the distinct and unique character that not only exists in each region, but what each distillery brings. They do not want to be the same as anyone else and it makes me want to taste them all so I can identify the differences and find the ones that I like.
Having the grape varietal on the label is easy in a superficial sense. But having the region and/or style of wine listed encourages so much more. It is a way for the consumer to learn more about the wine in terms of style and character, allows the consumer to compare the wine with other wines from the same area, compare same varietals from different regions, and distinguish the wine from wines of different styles and regions. It allows a consumer to figure out what they like. The issue of quality is not about the rules, but the domain of consumers and producers. And if in some small way regionality encourages people to investigate a wine further by picking up an atlas, reading more about the area, trying a recipe or two, or even travel to that region, wouldn?t this in some small way lead to a better appreciation and understanding of other cultures and ways of life? If wine could do that, then, Mr.Vice President, is easy necessarily better? |
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