Parallel Paradigms?

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Rod Smith — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:28:46 GMT

You don’t need oak barrels to impart oak flavor, as demonstrated by any number of $8-10 wines that taste like a furniture showroom after a fire. No, I really feel there is a groundswell of demand for pinots, chards, and just about everything else—except maybe cab—made from excellent fruit picked at moderate ripeness and vinified in a straightforward way (including seasoned to near-neutral cooperage) that allows the fruit to shine. Although in general I think you’re right that it is cheaper overall to make wine like that, so it doesn’t have to be as expensive. From here, that looks like win-win for us classiciscts.

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:01:42 GMT

In my recent rounds, I have noticed several wineries now have a Burgundian style pinto noir and chardonnay. I don't miss the oak and I am enjoying the more restrained use. I just figured part of this is the cost of new oak and there is more reuse going on.

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Rod Smith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:09:26 GMT

Me, too. It’s great to be able to drink wines like trousseau, dolcetto, pinot gris rose, not to mention juicy, racy pinot noirs that taste like Burgundian village wines at equivalent price point. Pinot for drinking w/dinner—what a concept!

Pressing the point, I just sense that a new wave of vintners has gotten the Old World idea of good, honest, local wines at reasonable prices. It seems to be spreading rapidly through the ranks of high-end, artisan producers. I’m encountering more and more of them who have stepped back from the notion that every pinot has to be Romanee-Conti, every cab Latour, or even that every wine has to be a pinot or a cab. For example, I love Beaujolais. I could drink it all day (and have, on more than one occasion) without getting tired of it or feeling drunk. On the other hand, after a few sips of overstuffed 15% pinot noir, I’m over it.

I’ve always wanted Cal and Oz producers to get the idea that it all rests on good village-level wines, from which exceptional sites and cuvees naturally arise over time and general acclaim, becoming worthy of attention and higher prices. And it seems to me that current cultural, economic, and historical circumstances may fostering a reset to that basic village-level attitude.

The other day a RRV vintner said to me, “Call me crazy, but I think I can make a kickass Sonoma Coast pinot that’s better than a lot of $60 bottles, and sell it for $20. I think a lot of people are waiting for that.” Hear, hear!

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:32:28 GMT

There are certainly hints of that, but I think that the kind of California wine that you and I both like is still on the fringe, even if the buzzwords of wineries are moving in that direction. I would love to think that there is a new American way of looking at wine, but I think it is more likely customers responding to such a dramatic swing in one direction. Just like the economy, we will buy one or two less things, but we are still a consumer society and now we will only buy one snuggy instead of two.

I think that the first battle is educating customers that there is a continuum, and that their subjective preference in that continuum is valid and that the enjoyment of a wine cannot be objectified in a point rating. I'm just thankful that those of us who have a more classical sensibility have more than a few New World wines to choose from these days.

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Rod Smith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:44:41 GMT

Of course, it’s a continuum. A Rutherford cab could be an Oakville cab, and visa versa (on a good day). But given that fine wine is not just a product of vineyards but also a commercial product in an economic democracy, every dollar spent is a vote cast. There are tipping points; is this point in history one of them? There will always be people partying at the extremes—let’s hear it for pluralism. But what’s going to be featured under the Big Top? Same as it ever was, or a new American way of looking at wine?

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:18:13 GMT

Hopefully we are moving more towards infinite universes than parallel universes. Not that I disagree with the gist of your article, but I find a bit of a spectrum developing. For example, someone like Radio Coteau; richer than anything I would drink at home, but I don't feel bad recommending it. A little bit of both universes.