NYTimes: Asimov on Grape Variety Caste System

Eric has an interesting article on the caste system of grape varieties:

On why some grape varieties are noble and others are not. He argues that this can be very short-sighted and lead drinkers to not trying some varietals that can actually make interesting/compelling/even great wines.
Some folks ridiculed me (or dismissed me as the ravings of a lunatic) for suggesting that Teroldego or Nebbiolo could make great wines in Calif. But Bryan Harrington and Emilio Castelli have shown me to be correct. Sam Bilbro will soon show me as being right on Timorasso.
Anyway… interesting read by Eric.
Tom

It also leads to Cab, Pinot and Chardonnay being grown in areas they shouldn’t simply because of name value, when varieties more suited to the area would be more appropriate.

Ding ding ding

Eggsactly, Jason. That’s why the planted tons of Cabernet & Merlot on Etna , to the neglect of NerelloMascalese, as Eric points out,
Tom

I think the inclusion of Sauvignon Blanc is sufficient to discredit the concept. [stirthepothal.gif]

Interesting and some good points. I was a little stunned by his admission "… I’ve had far more bad chardonnays than good ones."
Thanks for the link, Tom.

Behind a paywall, so couldn’t read it. But as Carole Meredith argues - Zinfandel is much more noble than Cabernet Sauvignon, who’s an upstart compared to Zin.

Interesting article and agree with message in there as well.

For me Eric is one of the (if not the) most insightful wine writes out there. Always balanced, great knowledge and contemplative writing.

Yup, Mikael… agree. Some of his articles are very thought-provoking. This was one such.
What makes a certain grape “Noble”?? Who really cares?
Tom

So I have reflected on the read and find it has some credible thinking, Eric is always thoughtful. I do struggle on a more personal note with the continued need to poke at tradition. Seems like the trendy “woke” thing to do. But that is not a fight I need to win. For me the Nobles will be Nobles, call me a Royalist!

We’re living in a time where we have the resources to explore grape varieties in a way never before possible. Sanitation, techniques, equipment, sharing of information… People around the world are working to get the best out of grapes, whatever the issues. We’re moving beyond the cookie-cutter winemaking era, where grapes failed because the people making wine from them were clueless, not knowing to treat them differently than Cabernet Sauvignon or whatever. We can maintain fleeting aromatics, resolve acid and tannin issues, and so forth. Find the best sites for a variety or find the most suitable varieties for a site.

It’s funny that labeling laws that worked to improve quality have also stymied quality. Handcuffing winemakers, introducing biases to the market. Look at the threads of the all time best California wines people have had, and you’ll find wines made from grapes like Valdique and Charbono. The former suffered a double-whammy, with new fads rewarding other grapes, while the forced name change wiped out market recognition. Valdigue is coming back with hipster winemakers because it can over-deliver for the price. Not sure if anyone is really pursuing its potential. Charbono - I’ve had benchmarks and haven’t had anything close in decades.

I’ve seen potential in many of the grapes we worked with, like Falangina. Teroldego actually is widely planted in California, but as a workhorse Central Valley grape. Chenin is another of those workhorse grapes that deliver relative quality from oppressive sites. Give it a site it likes, which can be warmer than ideal for many Frenchy grapes, and you have something.

My test batch of Touriga Nacional was aimed at maximizing aromatics and varietal expression. Picked for aromatics, the brix was a little low and the acid and tannin a bit high. (A little punishing without food, but perfect with.) It’s so amazingly expressive. I borrowed a little to spruce up another wine - at 20% it has a big impact and completed the wine. I wouldn’t compromise what this showed by picking later, or let it see a barrel, but maybe blend in just enough of something like Grenache to soften it. People should be taking a serious look at this grape in CA, as I think it can blow away just about every Cab made here.

Interesting follow-up info, Wes. I am curious how you came up with the idea of testing out Touriga Nacional. Do you have favorite expressions of this in Portuguese wines?

Hmmm, Wes…how do you go about making picking decisions to do that?? I can see if you pick at Brix in the upper 20’s or above, you won’t get the aromatics & varietal expression
right. But 20-25 Brix, how you make that choice?? Or do you do like we do in Science…make a WAG (wild-a$$ guess)?
Tom

Not a huge amount of info. I’d had enough Portuguese and California examples to get an idea of its expression and importance in blends, and knew its reputation. The grower I’d already been buying from, and had been impressed with his Touriga Nacional-Tinta Cao-Tinta Roriz blend. Basically, it was the perfect opportunity and a great candidate to play with along the lines of what I wanted to do, which was sort of a furtherance of things we’d been playing with at Harrington.

Tom, I don’t doubt that many, many obscure grapes can make great wine in the New World. The problem is that it’s such a hard sell unless the grapes are well known and liked or they are used in a prestigious wine in Europe. That’s not our problem, sure, but it takes a brave winery to commit the time to establish them and, mostly importantly, selling them.

With Ridge as my benchmark, I’ve never given a shit about brix. That’s a trivial after-the-fact observation a certain degree statistical correlation. We had a couple ideally ripe, according to Bryan’s call, grapes come in at 19 brix - with the resultant wines verifying that choice. Some stuff may be ideal as far the other way, especially at an odd site, in some rare vintage, or just in the nature of a grape variety.

The volatile aromatic compounds tend to be developed to their maximum ahead of other ripening. Their purpose in nature is to attract birds from miles away to the forest vines, hidden from view in the canopy of trees. So, most varieties have begun depleting their volatile aromatics as soon as the grapes are somewhat edible. The longer you wait, the less there is. But, there are plenty of other factors. Harsh flavors, unpleasant aromatics, problematic acidity, lack of flavor development. You can get incredibly beautiful aromatics in a wine that’s punishing to drink. So, the question is how to maximize and retain these desirable aromatics while making an overall enjoyable wine. It depends.

Because I feel like it, let’s go back to Teroldego. In pressing our first vintage, 2011, it showed an incredible amount of fresh green hops - like if you’ve ever opened a vacuum sealed bag of hops pellets, the hashish of hops. Holy Moley! I want that. I would retain that on purpose. It seemed like a “controversial” character some people would hate, but a surprising number would scramble to get it. Pliny The Tyrolian. Think how a classically ripe Cab Sauv or Cab Franc from a great site that isn’t afraid of its f’ing varietal character, with a vibrant green peppercorn and violets working in juxtaposition to black currant. Lifting, wonderful aromatics that just make you smile. I’m sure you’ve gotten a touch of hops in some Teroldego and Lagrein. Imagine much more, playing in contrast to youthful fruit and floral notes. Pick at that level on purpose, don’t allow it to “resolve” in oak, bottle early, enjoy.

Great article which reaches a conclusion which ought to be self-evident. The author mentions Sylvaner, and that’s a textbook example of how, like many rock stars, popularity comes and goes: I believe at some point in the early part of the last century it was more ubiquitous than Riesling in German vineyards. I wonder why, though: what did it bring to the table (literally) which was valued back then but ceased to be valued in subsequent generations? Were its yields good?

In the case of both Spanish and Portuguese grapes, it’s a fact that the colonial empires of both countries encompassed mostly territories where wine growing was impractical, unfeasible or (at the time) economically disadvantageous when compared to other industries, and I wonder whether that had an impact on the varieties’ relative insularity until more recent years.

You instinctively did the ‘right’ thing (if such a thing can be said), in the sense that most Portuguese wines are blends and Touriga Nacional is most often blended with Jaen and Alfrocheiro in the Dão, or with Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Tinta Amarela, Souzão, etc. in the Douro. Having not had Touriga from outside of Portugal (I am aware there are many Australian Tourigas today), I’m wondering whether your batch showed the characteristics I associate with the variety: visually, the distinguishable purple rim at the edge of the glass, and in terms of aromatics the exuberant violets, which are a stamp akin to the cherries in Pinot. Even in blended wines these can be really clear cut, depending on the percentage of Touriga.

Thanks for posting. Good read. totally agree.

I agree completely that it does take a brave winery to commit to these lesser known grapes - in reality, it probably takes quite a few more than just one to make them more than just an oddity. Adam Frisch who responded earlier in this thread (#7) is one such winemaker. In his own words he does just that: “I make restrained old world wines, from low-impact vineyards, with focus on rare, forgotten, under-appreciated or historic grape varieties.” (www.sabelli-frisch.com). I know that Adam has had discussions on other areas of WB on how to promote lesser known grapes - it would be great if he would chime in on his experiences in selling his wines.

But it also takes wine buyers willing to take a leap into the unknown (or lesser known). A majority of wine drinkers know very little and because wine’s reputation as a bastion of snobbery, are reluctant to venture away from what they know as being safe. There are also many of us who know pretty well what we like and don’t - and given that there are only so many bottles of wine that we can drink, we tend to stick with what we like. Of course, each of us is on our own wine journey so that will apply much more to some than others.

Ultimately, wines will only be made from grapes where the economics work. And that is across the entire supply chain - from the growers of the grapes to the retailers stocking the shelves and everyone in between - if there isn’t profit to be had, the grapes will not be a success. For big winemakers, that means profits in scale, which almost certainly rules out all but the most popular varietals for them.

I am not ITB and have never met Adam, but I would suggest that if you want to do your part to help expand the availability of lesser known grapes, go buy a couple of bottles of his wine. Admittedly, this is self serving advice as I want him to keep making wine for many years to come. I discovered his Mission wine earlier this year and immediately bought a case - and I would be happy if I could buy a case of it every year.

I would love to try Adam’s take on Alicante Bouschet, since that is one of the most important varieties in Alentejo and his is the only non-Portuguese Alicante Bouschet wine I know of, but I don’t believe Adam’s wines are selling in Europe.

1 Like