Sometimes, Too Much of a Good Thing is Too Much

 

Eric Asimov posted this great article recently in The New York Times.  Eric has a wonderful ability to get to the point and tease out what needs to be said.  I particularly lit up while reading the last paragraph.

“Count me among those who find little to love in the overbearing flavor of oak. Yet the effects of aging a wine in oak barrels extend far beyond flavoring. Oak allows a subtle, minute interchange of air, which can affect the texture of wine and improve its ability to age. Using older, neutral barrels or bigger barrels can do this without the garish veneer of aromas and flavors. In the end, the problem is not oak, but how winemakers use it.”

Asimov, Eric. “5 Words Not To Fear.”  The New York Times. Jan 15, 2013

There really are no short cuts to making really delicious, interesting wine.  There is certainly some dumb luck that can come in handy from time to time (there are vineyards that in certain years do seem to practically make themselves – love those years!!).  But, year in and year out I think it is important to meet the grapes where they are, to truly strive to see what it is they need to express their full potential in that particular vintage without regard to preconceived notions of what constitutes “good” wine.  Brilliant wine comes in an astonishing array of styles, textures, aromas and flavors. 

The two laziest tricks in a winemaker’s bag are too much oak and too much sugar.  And that is not to say there are not incredible, wonderful, world class wines that have a massive oak influence or that retain a certain amount of sweetness.  There are countless examples of both.   It is when these attributes are imposed on a wine blindly to make it bigger or more attractive to critics or to hide flaws (perhaps most commonly – the flaw of being a boring wine), that they are tools misused. 

Having spent some time this weekend at the San Francisco ZAP festival ,one of the biggest wine tastings in the country, I walked away with a fear that we as a wonderful, creative and vibrant industry run the risk of chasing each others short term successes into a copycat mentality that will ultimately lead to widespread mediocrity.  To chase the past is a recipe for irrelevance.  The fad of today is not likely the great wine of 5 years from now.  We must make the very best wines we as individual wineries are most capable of making from the vineyards we have the privilege to work with. 

The two most notable wines I tasted this weekend were a monstrous Dry Creek Zin chock full of tannin, oak, and some sweetness; A HUGE wine that yet maintained complexity and grace.  The second was an almost fragile Zin made in a Beaujolais style; bright, aromatic, and perfumed.  So slight it was like a gentle whisper among much shouting.  Completely opposite and equally delicious.   We need be careful not to miss the beauty in the glass in front of us, even if it is a kind of  beauty we were not looking for nor expecting.