One Dimensional Wine

The revolution in the wine industry did not start when grape growers used chemicals to protect healthy fruit against all sorts of natural enemies. Neither did it start when mineral fertiliser was used in place of cow manure; it started when wine was sold as a brand and not as the product of a vineyard.

Brand names such as Blue Nun, Black Tower and Mateus Rose were the beginnings of a development, which has increasingly seen the side-lining of estate wines. What significance does this have and what are the differences between the two types of wine? Very briefly, branded wine is a product manufactured in such a way to ensure it always tastes the same. An estate wine, on the other hand, is made from grapes actually grown on the estate and will show a difference due to the location of the vineyard, the weather conditions that prevailed in a certain year and even the wine maker.

The advantage of branded wine to the consumer is that the buyer can be certain that what he or she buys will taste the same every time they open a bottle. Brands such as Lindemans, Jacob’s Creek and Bend in the River build up their reputation by offering consistent quality at a low price. The way this is achieved is in the laboratory. The grapes are bought in and the product is manipulated until it tastes according to what the brand stands for. If you buy a bottle of Coke you expect Coke and not Pepsi.

On the other hand an estate wine is produced with the grapes grown in its vineyards; it expresses the character of the soil, the conditions of the weather and the grape varieties used. A Chablis tastes very different to a Chardonnay from a few miles further south in Burgundy, although they are both produced from the same grape. They could be manipulated in a laboratory to taste the same, but that is precisely the point: instead they show the character of their origin.

There is no denying that the risk to the wine buyer is bigger when buying an estate wine than a branded wine because the wine from an estate might not taste exactly the same as the last bottle you drank.

This leads us to an interesting question: does it matter to us, the wine drinker, to know where the grapes come from? Who harvested them? How were they grown and tended? Or is this merely unimportant information distracting from the end result - the wine you pour into your glass? Does the end justify the means, or is the journey the goal?

In fact this is a question that goes way beyond wine buying. We, the consumer, have to decide when we do our shopping whether to choose organic or conventional. Every time we buy organic and fair trade goods we make a conscious decision that it is not just the result that matters to us but the way things are produced. This attitude is not very popular at the moment. Convenience food, the cheaper the better is in; animal rights, environmental questions, even health aspects are all regarded as secondary considerations in this time of financial crisis. Let there be light again at the end of the tunnel and we will then again consider saving the world.

In this respect the fact that branded wine is pushing estate, and even more so organic and biodynamic, wines off the shelves is a reflection on the society we live in. Branded wine is cool and any other consideration is unimportant. It is one dimensional.

When I plead here for diversity and individuality in wine it is equally a plea for conscious consumption. We have had consumerism for the last number of years. Now it is time for consumer consciousness. It is time to ask questions about the origin of our food and drink.

Does double the licence fee double tax income?

It is this time of the year again - renewal of the licence. Now, I do not want to bore people with administrative details from the wine trade, however, this detail is yet another example how the drive for taxes and new income by the government can back fire and actually reduce state income.
Up to this year a wine off licence cost € 250.00 per year. This fee was doubled probably thinking that it will double the income from licences. But small outlets such as health food shops, farm shops and the like who kept a small selection of quality wines decided that the cost is too much for the turnover they made and will not renew their licence.
It is like with the increase of VAT by half a percent and the fifty cents per bottle in excise duty, wine is getting more and more expensive and people go North where they can buy wine much cheaper. It means less tax income at the end of the day and business going north and not remaining local. Money is leaving an already cash strapped economy. It pushes small businesses out and at the end of the day only big shops are left.
Does it at least reduce the problem with binge drinking and other socially unacceptable behaviour related to alcohol? Question: is wine the preferred drink to get really loaded? This increase is once again a shot from the hip and clearly missing its target!

Mackerels and Sancerre

It was one of those evenings we have been waiting for the whole Summer here in Ireland, beautiful blue sky and the sun just tipping the tops of the trees around the house in a last golden shine. I had bought some fresh mackerel at the market and was now preparing the four fish. After washing and drying it I rubbed Dijon mustard liberally onto the fleshy side before turning it in flour and then proceeded to fry it in butter. Beforehand I had prepared a tasty carrot, cucumber and green salad. A few minutes later, we sat down to this fantastic tasting dinner and opened a bottle of Sancerre Les Caillottes which we thought was just the perfect combination with the fish. Try it!

Our vacation was spent, mainly, in our van travelling from Ireland to Switzerland through France. The goal was to combine pleasure with a bit of work - where work would be the driving and pleasure the visit to different wine makers.

Our first stop was in Orschwihr, Alsace at the Domaine Valentin Zusslin, www.valentin-zusslin.com. Rain prevented a visit to the vineyards but certainly not to the cellar. Marie showed us the new cellar which will have more room for the aging of the wines and is situated just below the presses to allow the transfer of the most from the press to the vats by gravity. The idea is to streamline the process of winemaking from the vineyard to the bottle with as few interactions as possible. This means hand picking the grapes into small crates, a second examination of the grapes before crushing, pneumatic pressing and transfer to the vats for the fermentation. Generally, Zusslin's attitude is that wine does not improve when handled too often. There are still a few things that need to be done but everything will be ready for the new vinteage.

With all this care it is no wonder that the wines from Zusslin get better and better. With the experience and knowledge of three generations in the vineyards and cellar a lot of knowhow goes into the wines. Now having produced biodynamically for well over 10 years the rhythm of this way of prodcution is internalised not only in the vineyards and cellar but in dayly life.

The wines I personally like best are: Riesling Grand Cru "Pfingstberg" 2001, Riesling Clos Liebenberg 2002, Muscat Cuvee Marie 2001 and as an aperitif the Cremant d'Alsace made with Riesling and Auxerrois grapes. There are still a few more to discover, especially the late harvested ones, and I will approach those one by one as my palate is getting more educated.

What is organic wine?

Organic wine is made from grapes grown without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides and who knows what other potentially poisonous delights designed by chemists to keep Nature at bay. It is a little realised fact that conventionally grown grapes (including those grown for eating) are amongst the most sprayed crop in the agricultural world. They are sprayed from one end of the year to the next and the residue remains on the grape so that you too can enjoy the benefits when you drink the wine!

Organic vineyards produce a smaller yield, but the quality is much better. The terroir is allowed to come through (the French word terroir refers to a combination of factors important to give character and flavour to grapes: the type of soil, where the vineyard is situated i.e. on a hillside or flat, when it gets the sun and the micro-climate in that particular spot). This is what gives a wine its character and why the same appellation can vary from year to year.
Of course the work in the cellar is also of vital importance, but you'll pardon me if I use a very inapposite comparison and suggest that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! If the grapes are of poor quality it is impossible to make good wine. Well, no actually. If you produce conventional grapes of poor quality, you can use genetically modified yeast to speed up the process of fermentation (because the natural yeasts have been destroyed using fungicides), flavour enhancers, wood chips and enough sulphur to light up a town, so that the end product approximates wine. These practices are not carried out with organic wines because the grapes are well-flavoured and retain natural yeasts. Sulphite is added, as it is fairly difficult to preserve wine without it, but in much smaller quantities than conventional wine. Sulphites may be the culprit when people get headaches from drinking wine.

The differences between organic and conventional wines could run into a very long essay. I have just covered some main areas very superficially, simply to introduce the subject. I'll introduce some organic wine producers in my next posting.

This is the blog site for Vendemia Organic Wines. Why a blog site when we already have an official site? Well, basically we want to share with you organic fans out there all sorts of interesting facts about organic wine and its producers that won't fit on the web-site. We can also answer questions which you might have, because there are a lot of misconceptions about organic wine and, indeed, wine in general.