On the heels of last week’s wine note on the various uses the term ‘organic’ can be put to and how we can handle questions from guests about it, I read a report by Walter Speller on Jancis’ website that provided some insight into the state of things organic in Italy. Despite the fact that we have quite a number of Italian wines on our shelves that would qualify, the category remains a contentious one in Italy. Speller identifies an aversion to anything ‘new’ or ‘left of center’ in the Italian character – an innate conservatism, you might say, as part of the problem. One of the interesting aspects of Speller’s report is the degree of uniformity he observes in the way wines are being made now among the naturalist caucus.
Here’s his summary of the elements that are increasingly common among them: Their wines are fermented by indigenous yeast only and in the complete absence of temperature control or any other mechanical intervention. Fermentation vessels are often anything other than stainless steel, and it is a sheer miracle that the grapes arrive in the cellar at all. Skin contact for whites during the entire alcoholic fermentation is common and strictly speaking no longer limited to [the most] radical group. Having become much more widespread, it is a typical characteristic, as is the acceptance of high levels of volatile acidity, oxidation at any stage of the winemaking and, although not strictly sought after or cared for, re-fermentation in the bottle. Sulfur, needless to say, is the bête noire par excellence.
I think its particularly interesting to note that of the techniques that Speller lists here none really have anything to do with organic processes – its a question of style. These are choices even a conventional winemaker could make if he chose. It’s another point I think we should be clear on, because most of our guests won’t be.
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You may have read about a decline in the vaccination rate among children in the U.S. Apparently quite a number of parents are refusing to expose their children to the very small but nonetheless real possibility that inoculation will do them harm. Well, a story along these lines is playing out in France where the Ministry of Ag has charged a Burgundian winemaker for failing to spray against the infectious vine disease flavesence dorée. The complaint accuses Emmanuel Giboulot of “failure to apply an insecticide treatment to his vineyard between July 5-10 2013, and for an unspecified time since” to prevent the disease gaining a foothold. The treatment, which is mandated by law, involves spraying with an pesticide designed to kill the leaf-hopping insect that carries the bacterium.
Farmer Giboulet has reasonably argued that his property has been organic in the 1970’s and is now fully organic and biodynamic. He feels that spraying would undo decades of conscientious work on the property and that the treatment is, at any rate, unproven. “I am not irresponsible,’ he says, and I am not trying to be radical. I simply do not believe that systematic treatment – even without any symptoms of the disease – is the solution. I want to show people that there are options, and that we need to think about our own health and that of our customers.’
It’s easy to sympathize with his predicament – but it’s also clear that leaving one property unsprayed is like leaving one child unvaccinated: it leaves a gap in the wall for the bacterium to exploit and puts all Giboulet’s neighbors at risk. What do you think?
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On Monday November 4th mobile-radio.net set up 7 microphones in the Mosel Valley (Germany) cellar of Rudolf and Rita Trossen to capture the sounds of the freshly-pressed 2013 vintage in the process of turning itself into wine. The sounds were broadcast live for 17 hours over several Internet radio sites.
You can listen to the little vinous symphony as it sounded around midnight on Nov 5 and listen to a little commentary (in English) from Rudolf here. It’s great fun – just be sure to turn the volume up.
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Wine Word of the Week: Brett. Winemaker shorthand for a kind of yeast that can introduce flavors and aromas to wine that may present as animal, sweaty saddle, barnyard, or (bluntly) horseshit — even veering off into iodine and bloody-bandage. As is the case with many other character-inducing factors, a little bit may add a welcome complexity to wine in the form of smoky, clove-like notes. When levels rise to the point where they are frankly distracting, however, bretty notes are considered a fault.
That’s it for now.
-Stephen
All weekly wine notes are archived at http://tableintime.com/weekly