Yup, Dave…totally agree. I don’t think he was commanding people to try these “weird” varieties…just suggesting that they might want to try them
to expand their vinous horizons.
People should always drink what they like. But, oftentimes, they are presented with a wine that they don’t know if they’d like it or not.
Some people drink strictly for pleasure. I’d much rather drink to learn something, to expand my horizons.
Given a choice of drinking a DRC Echezeaux or sombody’s Piemonte Slarina, I’d far prefer the latter. At least if I’m drinking
on my own. If I’m having somebody I need to impress, then obviously it would be the DRC. Fortunately, that seldom happens. As if I had a DRC!! ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Tom
I agree that the article doesn’t “demand” everyone drink different varieties of wines, but it also effectively suggests that all grapes are equal. Which is a rather interesting statement to make, as it suggests that the reason wines become more or less popular is ONLY fashion/circumstance. That seems quite a stretch to me.
There’s also probably a different level of tolerance for each of us in terms of chasing novelty. One of my friends loves new varieties and natural wine. I, on the other hand, have tried quite a few Georgian wines (my mother still rhapsodizes over her experience with Georgian wines) and have never really liked a single one. I think I’ll stop chasing that novelty in favor of boring Burgundy and Bordeaux. 
P.S. Neil and Philip the Bold were right to ban gamay.
“A few years ago, the influential wine critic Robert Parker, who has made a career promoting noble grape varietals, scolded those of us who enthusiastically embrace such “godforsaken grapes” as “Euro-elitists.” This was power speaking, the influential gatekeeper positioned just like the monarchs of old.”
I’m absolutely baffled. Doesn’t Parker champion wines from Europe (Bordeaux and Rhone) or West Coast wines made from the same grapes as those used in Europe?
It also seems to me that the issues of grape variety and place are intertwined here. An obscure variety is obscure both because it is planted in places that don’t export a lot of wine to our markets, and because it is not planted in places that do. In many respects, saying “wines made from (variety) are surprisingly good” and saying “wines made in (place where that variety is dominant) are surprisingly good” are the same thing. So if I suggest someone try a Savoie mondeuse, it is both a suggestion of a new place and a new grape. And it is not the same thing as suggesting that mondeuse would out-perform cabernet if planted in Bordeaux, or that Savoie would outperform Bordeaux if you planted cab in both.
I also think there is a virtuous cycle at work in many of these. Over-simplified, it may go something like - Famous wine region gains renown, prices rise, folks who are priced out look elsewhere and sort some wheat from chaff, money flows to the regions they like (which may make wines from previously obscure grapes), that money can be reinvested to make better wines (better equipment or barrels, lowering yields, more labor-intensive work in the vineyard, whatever), the wines improve, more folks discover them, etc.
Clearly the traditionally great wines of the world are great and they became known as such through some combination of important factors - terroir, selection of which grapes to plant where, vineyard and winemaking practices, etc. - not simply because there are only a dozen great grapes and the places that happened to plant them rose to the top simply by luck of having planted those varieties. But also, to some extent, luck and all the various political and historical trends discussed in the article and this thread played a role (for example, didn’t cabernet only really take over Bordeaux after phylloxera because malbec (or carmenere?) had some kind of disease issue? There’s no reason those same trends couldn’t have operated in reverse to prevent the greatness of grape X being grown in place Y becoming recognized (or realized) until later. I’m glad we’re still looking!
(None of which is to suggest, of courses, that all grapes and all places are equally able to make great wine in our lifetimes - no doubt this is absolutely false, and some grapes/places never will).
I’m not a fan of people who are stuck on either side of the spectrum here. first, I think benchmark wines and “international” varieties are popular for a reason. They make the wines all other wines should be compared against in the right situations. but I think being stuck on bordeaux or burgundy and unwilling to try new grapes or wines because they’re unheard of is a mistake too. (i’m not singling out people in either category here).
I think the mistake is at the salespersons perspective. I understand a sommelier wanting to drink funky varieties because they are around wine all day long. that being said, most people ordering wine from a sommelier have only a passing familiarity with the difference between bordeaux, burgundy, and barolo. These people dont want to be talked down to, or walked through a bunch of varieties that even the somm just learned about last week. Knowing who is comfortable enough with wine to suggest a chasselas instead of a pinot grigio is the mark of someone who just knows weird grapes and wants to look cool and someone who knows their audience.
I find this very interesting.
Nowhere in this piece do I get a sense that the author says this or thinks this.
Not saying your reading is incorrect, but through your post I get a sense of just how our thoughts (and by “our” I mean both yours and mine) can appreciably change the message we take away from the article.
I just want to recommend Jason as great writer. He was a spirits columnist for the Washington Post for a while, and his book on spirits is very good.
I never thought I should be drinking weird grape varieties, it’s just a thing that happened.
Currently hovering around 400 different grape varieties tasted, most of them varietal wines. And I’m not counting here field blends with dozens or hundreds of different varieties.
Hah, fair enough! I agree it’s a matter of interpretation, although to me the article seemed to suggest that some grape varieties becoming more dominant was a matter of a lot of randomness, which I don’t really agree with.
But that’s the wonderful thing about wine - so long as you drink what you like, you can’t really be wrong.
On reflection, the ‘biodiversity’ argument does not work for me, from any ecological viewpoint. He’s talking about Vitis Vinifera only, not even Rotundifolia or Riparia. Virtually all vineyards in the world today are, as noted, monoculture. Thank you to those who grow grass or clover between the rows!
But from the point of view of diversity in general, this article is completely correct. When doing consumer tastings, I often make the same joke:
“If everybody liked the same wine, we’d have one red, one white, we’d pour a drop of the red into the white to make Rose, and I’d have to get a job.”
The line always goes over well.
Vive la Difference!
Dan Kravitz
Looking for Slarina, here’s a list of stuff Google gave me:
Here I thought I was doing pretty good on weird grapes. But only 4 for 17 on this list.
Need to get to crackin’. Whatta slacker I am.
Tom
While it isn’t an adaptation, Jason Wilson’s piece is very much inspired by his just-released book, “Godforsaken Grapes: A Slightly Tipsy Journey Through the World of Strange, Obscure and Under-Appreciated Wine.”
Regardless of whether or not you’re interested in drinking “weird” wines, Jason’s book is worth reading. It’s serious yet breezy – and thanks to Jason’s talents as a writer, it’s a page turner. (His spirits book, which is sort of similar in style and focus (“Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits”) is one of the few nonfiction books I’ve essentially read in one sitting.)
Disclosure: Jason is a friend. But I’ve love his writing even if I’d never met him.
Yup…agreed, David. Though it’s not a serious reference book, it’s a highly entertaining read because of his writing style.
I’m loving the book & learn a few things along the way.
Tom
In today’s article on Campania’s Whites, EricAsimov sez:
Pretty much says it all.
Tom
Durn hipsters!