First I want to say that Kermit is the man! Of any one in the wine trade, past or present, there is no one I strive to be like more than him. This is a little insight from his book Adventures on the Wine Route, which if you have never read, I implore you to buy a copy today. This is just a taste of what I am trying to convey when I talk about the way we view wine and how it needs to change from chasing scores to truly enjoying and understanding wine. Kermit has a keen understanding and grasp on this truth and his book is filled with interesting tidbits on wine and winemakers as well as much wisdom. The following is in reference to the 1982 Gautiere's vin de pays wine from the Southern Rhone that retailed for $2.50.
"...I sent along a case of Gautiere's wine as a gift to Madame Gruere, who ran my office in Beaune. She is Burgundian, related to the Louis Latour family, and she worked for years as private secretary to Robert Drouhin. She owns a vineyard at Savigny-les-Beaune. In other words, she is heart and soul Burgundian right down to the terroir on her shoes. No on can accuse her of prejudice.
She wrote back saying that she appreciated my little gift of twelve bottles. 'We had a large group over last weekend, including a few people from the Burgundy wine trade, and several different wines were uncorked. There was a Chambertin on the table, but me, I drank the vin de pays.'
Is the Gautiere vin de pays better than Chamberitn? It depends on which Chambertin, does it not? The Gautiere is delicious and it has soul, while many bottles labeled Chambertin have no deliciousness, no soul, and precious little Chambertin. But what a question: Is it better than Chambertin? 'Better for what?' is the only proper reply.
Better when dining at Taillevent, the Parisian gastronomic palace? No, at Taillevent the noblest bottles are appropriate.
Is it better than Chambertin if you have Richard Nixon over for dinner? No....Is Gautiere's vin de pays better than Chambertin served along side black olives and sliced sausage? Yes.
With ratatouille? Yes.
Hot onion omelet with vinegar sauce? Yes.
Soupe au pistou? Yes.
At home, alone, for a quick lunch? Yes, then it is preferable even to a great Chambertin. One cannot do justice to a great bottle alone. Someone with whom to ooh and aah is indispensable, someone with whom to share the intellectual and aesthetic stimulation that great bottle inspires.
The point here is that it is not only the bottles with great birthright and pedigree, which in turn demand the greatest prices, are great wines. Great domestic wines are not only those which are made from Napa Valley dirt, or Santa Barbara dirt, or Willamette Valley dirt, but are those which are made from loving hands in an honest, diligent, and authentic manner. As Kermit points out first the wine must have soul and I do not believe this can be achieved by adding water, or acid, or centrifuging, or by high alcohol. It can only be done by loving viticulture, picking at the proper time, and making the wine in a natural fashion. Just because a wine made in this fashion may not receive high scores because it does not taste the way a wine writer "expects" it to taste, does not mean it can not be enjoyable, or even great in some fashion. Again, we need to change the way we approach wine.
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