Do you have a preference for European wines, California wines, or wines from another location? Do you know why you have those preferences?
This week, Staci and I had the opportunity to take a 3 day class on the wines of Italy, through the Italian Trade Agency. The class, a comprehensive survey of the 20 regions of Italy and their wine traditions, drove home a point that has recently become evident for me, in how my preferences have evolved…and importantly, why.
Living in the US, as wine drinkers we are taught to think about grapes, and are surrounded by wine choices from all over the world. Thinking about wines in terms of grapes moves us toward the wines of the US; not surprising as Napa Valley figured out decades ago that it could shift preferences toward the wines of California by marketing the grape name.
I was fortunate to learn how to decode the shelves of the European countries, where authenticity of location is more important and therefore more prominent. I learned that I have what is called an “Old World” palate, or an affinity for the wines of Europe. In particular, Italy showed me a diversity in its wines, with lots of different types and characters, and something like 350 recognized varietals. And I’ve been drinking wines for many years, without really understanding why I prefer these wines.
In the US, the modern style of winemaking evolved, with cellar interventions including maximizing extraction from the grapes, and liberal use of small and newer oak barrels. This style of winemaking leads to very intense wines dominated by fruit-forward, and at times oaky, characters.
As I learned about European wines–white, red, and rosé–I learned that characters were more subtle, but there were more of them. More complexity, more floral and earthy and mineral aromas, versus a highly intense combination of fruit and oak. Fruit characters can also range, from freshly picked to ripe to baked and even dried; in some cases there were combinations of these fruit characters.
If you have taken a wine class or talked with experienced wine drinkers, you have likely heard about the concept of terroir, meaning “sense of place”. It has an almost intangible feeling but over the years I have realized it is not really that intangible.
In Europe, terroir is a concept embraced by winemakers, even as some have shifted production toward the more modern style common in the US. Many European producers will tell you that their products are an expression of their lands, and their focus on winemaking is in the vineyard rather than the cellar. The shifts toward organic and natural wines are embraced, as these practices encourage expressions of terroir by eliminating agents that can interfere with it. This is the art.
For this reason, wines are not interchangeable. Cabernet Sauvignon produced in Italy, France, Napa, Sonoma, and even subdivisions of those regions can express itself differently. Soils are different, indigenous yeasts are different, the grapes may be a little different, and meteorology and geography are different.
To me, this is why wines from locations like Sardegna, and Puglia, and Sicilia, and the Northern Rhône are so interesting. You simply cannot replicate a wine made in Sardegna; you are experiencing its long days of sun exposure and radiant heat, combined with moderating influences of the sea and of the mistral wind blowing from the north. When I taste the Cannonau made by the Pala family at Audarya, I get complex fruit characters, very fresh yet also somewhat baked, at the same time; similarly, floral notes can be simultaneously fresh and dried. The mineral soil is prominent.
The wines of Trentino, in the north, are made from grapes grown on steep slopes with sun exposure and cool alpine breezes (see photo above), creating crisp, floral, and mineral Pinot Grigio wines that provide an interesting contrast to others; again, these characters are specific to Trentino.
In the Italian wines class, it occurred to me that I could spend weeks in Toscana tasting Sangiovese made in the various divisions and subdivisions of the Chianti Classico and Chianti areas, simply experiencing how the grape expresses itself differently. This reminds me of why people get excited about Burgundy, and how differences even within a vineyard can make drastically different Pinot Noir wines. Nebbiolo can express the different terroirs of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, and Valtellina (home of our partner Pietro Nera); those areas also have their own microclimates and soil types that can make different wines within the region. A modern style of winemaking can make it more difficult to detect and appreciate these differences.
American wine producers are taking note of this. There is now a movement in the US where winemakers are trying to minimize their cellar interventions, allowing the terroir to be more prevalent and detectable (example). This is happening even as winemakers in Europe go in the other direction, but still there is a growing appreciation for what is special about location. As consumers this is a wonderful development; it will provide more and more new experiences and lead to more diverse wines.
As my friend Bernie Vogel will say, the only way to experience this is to pull corks.
What is your favorite winemaking location, and why is it special to you?