Controversy, disputes, DRAMA...via Twitter, Facebook and amongst the wordplay of the blogosphere. Everyone loves a good controversy...and why not?
For the past few months in the wine industry nothing is hotter than the BioD debate. In a nutshell (an organic one of course) is biodynamics all just marketing bull, another way to push our juice, a scheme that was create in dark hallways to manipulate the masses...Makes for great drama, no? I am not here to talk about merits of biodynamics, that is for another forum, another time... But rather point out that behind the drama is debate and what could be better for progress than that?
Where I take issue is when we go into these conversations with a clear cut vision that there is to be a winner and there is to be a loser... As we see it there is no right or wrong answer...and that it the beauty of debates. The more we open the dialogs, the more we challenge the status quo and the better wine producers we all become. Despite whatever road we choose to take to get the wine into the bottle.
So skeptics keep asking prodding questions!
I was reading with attention a post from wine writer Alder Yarrow about the fundamental question: What is an Honest Wine?
As a winemaker, I feel the need to reply by this short quote:
Honesty will inspire
Yes, Honesty will inspire!
Wine should not be seen as a product but as a complex element not only involving pleasure but also, a sense of story teller about the soil, the climate, the people who works hard to grow grapes and make the wine.
What is an honest wine?
An honest wine inspires people;
An honest wine connects people;
An honest wine is not a "show off" wine but a quiet wine;
An honest wine does not use make-up because it tries to express its natural beauty;
An honest wine does not try to please;
An honest wine ages well because it grew with the fundamental basic of being patient and wise;
An honest wine brings a sense of memory in the palate;
An honest wine disturbs because it is candid;
An honest wine does not follow fashion and trends;
An honest wine has its own identity;
An honest wine respects the origin of the word VARIETY. It means DIVERSITY.
How to make an honest an honest wine?
By understanding the notion of soil, climate, history and past vintages;
By understanding that vineyard workers and cellar crew are doing the essential job and therefore they deserve credits;
By understanding that "oenology" comes AFTER farming;
By understanding that farming comes AFTER geology;
By understanding that a tiny bacteria buried 6 feet below the vine is an essential part of winemaking;
By understanding that wines are alive and therefore should be seen and treated as a living entity;
By understanding that winemaking is NOT engineering;
By accepting the fact that the notion of vintage is a great asset because it creates diversity;
By understanding that we cannot control everything and therefore, let nature do the job (native yeast);
By understanding that patience and dedication is an essential key of making honest wines;
The Winemaker on the name of Cooper Mountain Crew.
This is a clear explanation!
Cooper Mountain Vineyards is always a sexy and romantic place to be. Even the Today show is recognizing this fact:
we will need Adobe Flash Player 9.0 to watch the video:
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/
Here is a copy of an article published in Seattle Times (02/21/2007).
Because we are a winery, I will not make any comment about this article except that this is very well written.
Here is a pretty good article about Oregon Organic CERTIFIED Wineries. However, I need to note that the journalist did not really understand what I meant. I have no idea why but I can imagine she was thinking: "Oh my god, this French guy is a crazy one".....
Copy and Paste:
http://tilth.org/IGT/Articles/17v/OregonOrganicWine.html
Proposal to require labels to ID presence of allergens such as eggs, fish, milk, wheat used in winemaking alarms industry
Copy of the article published in "THE PRESS DEMOCRAT" by Kevin McCallum
Continue reading "What's in your wine?"