hello Bottlers.
Some weeks what can be picked from the wine blogs I follow isn’t enough to keep a moderately curious man alive. This isn’t a comment on the quality of the thinking or writing that goes on there. A number of these people don’t write on a weekly cycle, and sometimes the topics don’t seem right for inclusion in a wine note. Not so this week. This week there’s so much interesting and useful stuff to read, I had to forego my morning glass of claret to get it all read and set out in good order for you. Hope you appreciate the sacrifice.
First, the final (one hopes) chapter of the Olivier Cousin story has been written. You’ll remember that this is the chap who was charged with ‘wine fraud’ for using the appellation designation Anjou on wines that by law were only entitled to be called vine de table. Cousin’s defense, to judge from his own words, was based on the fact that since (a) his vineyards are in the region historically known as Anjou, and since (b) he is making wine in the good old way (as his grandfather did, he claims), nothing should prevent him from using the word Anjou to describe his wine.
In his battle with the Federalistas Cousin had lots of backing from the Naturalistas – i.e. the natural wine community of which he is a leading citizen-insurgent. The case was disposed of by the court in Angers with Cousin to pay one euro in damages to both France’s national appellation body and the Anjou wine federation. He’s on the hook for almost 700 euros in court costs, though. Cousin’s fundamental argument, that he is somehow entitled to the appellation Anjou for whatever he makes à la grand-père is deeply doubtful no matter the lengths Alice Feiring may go to defend it. Arguments that one kind of wine is more “authentic” than another lead nowhere (see my post Whose Grandfather Wins?). The court’s ambivalent decision (“He’s guilty but let’s not punish him”) doesn’t advance the argument or do anything to settle matters.
His lawyer’s riposte that the INAO (that’s the authority that regulates French appellation rules) has stolen ‘Anjou’ is also a stretch. If that’s true, then the entire appellation system is a criminal enterprise and ought to be undone. Does anyone really think this? As for Cousin’s assertions that the Anjou appellation has gone to hell, why should this matter? Cousin remains free to make the wine he wants and now that he’s a brand in his own right people who want to drink his lovely wines produced in tiny amounts can readily seek them out — and should.
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More on the vexed question of what exactly soils contribute to the taste of wine, now, from a presentation given this past week by Professor Hans-Reiner Schultz, president of Germany’s leading wine university at Geisenheim and reported on jancisrobinson.com. According to the report prepared by Julia Harding, rather than focus on mineral content, condition, or microflora ecology as responsible for the taste of wine, Schultz emphasized the importance of soil color, which determines how light either reflects off its surface or is absorbed by it.
Slate reflects little; limestone and the bright white soil known in Spanish as albariza reflect a lot. The idea is that simply by virtue of their color soils have a substantial effect on the temperature in the vineyard, and that temperatures can in their turn directly affect fruit development and character in the glass.
In a recent book review for the Boston Globe I took a geologist to task for writing a book on how terroir is responsible for the taste of wine without ever providing any explanation for how conditions on the ground actually translate to flavors and aromas in wine. The Geisenheim research would have given him something to go on and his readers a reason to buy his book, but alas . . .
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Let’s keep going with Julian Harding. If you’re a fan of Frank Cornelissen’s wine and are always eager for more information about what this thoughtful and idealistic winemaker is up to, do rush over for a look at her profile at jancisrobinson.com. Lots of ink has been spilt on this fellow, but Harding’s piece is very, very good at sketching his history, his evolving notions of what wine should be, and outlining his dedication to what he is now calling “high fidelity” winemaking. Looking this over will really help when you’re chatting with a guest about Contadino or Munjabel.
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Reading microbiologist Erika Szymanski’s blog (The Wine-o-Scope) this week I clicked on a link to a piece she authored at Palate Press on toasty flavors in Champagne. Loved this – chiefly because it explained in crystal clear detail the strange phenomenon known as autolysis – the thing that gives bubbly those lovely bready, biscuity notes. It’s an easy read and I enthusiastically recommend it to you. Your reward for taking the time will be that you will at some point in the future be able to wow a guest with your familiarity with autolytic flavors. And if that isn’t incentive, I don’t know what is.
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It’s exciting for us when visiting winemakers drop in, talk to us about their properties and generally bring a welcome whiff of vineyard air perfumed with ripening fruit into the glass and concrete confines of our Cambridge shop. At least that’s how it looks on our end. On theirs, it’s more likely to be just one more turn in a seemingly endless whirl of visits that bring them, annually, into scores of retail outlets and restos where they must flog, flog, flog their wares. Apparently all this travel and salesmanship is taking a toll because decanter.com is reporting this week that “hundreds” of California, Oregon, and Washington vintners are ready to chuck it all, sell-up, and get out of the biz.
Researchers into the phenomenon identify ‘fatigue’ as a key reason for owners bailing out, rather than financial difficulties. “Getting on an airplane and hitting major markets in a sales blitz wasn’t what many owners thought they were signing up for,” the analysts said. If you’re attracted to the romantic life of a West Coast wine estate owner and have few million burning a hole in your pocket, you too, can spend the best years of your life in an airport.
That’s it for now.
-Stephen
A reminder that all weekly wine notes a re archived at tableintime.com/weekly