A great argument for the immense value that independent bricks and mortar businesses still offer. Curation and assistance from a trusted source are still by far the best way to get to the good stuff.
I think outside mostly why I rarely drink American wines are because most European vineyards that have been in families for generations consider themselves curators of their land not owners. They always have been organic/sustainable, whatever label you put on it. Where America allows some really repulsive additives with no transparency. I agree. Know where to buy- Total Wine type mega box shops and a supermarket you will mostly find things I avoid.
I think this is an over-romanticised view. For example, many family estates in Burgundy (or name any other classic European wine region you like) embraced synthetic fertilisers and pesticides with glee in the 1970s and 1980s. And many have continued to work in that way until someone strong enough emerged from a younger generation to stand up and ask "why do we need to work like this?"
The sea-change in Europe has come from the 1990s on, when quality wine estates started to realise that they were destroying their own most precious asset (their soil) by bombarding it with chemicals and killing off the life in their vineyards.
But the majority of wineries in Europe still prefer to use herbicides, and fungicides when it rains, rather than the considerably more arduous option of working organically.
Bear in mind that only about 10% of vineyards in France are worked organically. The largest proprtion is in Austria, with about 25% of their vineyard surface under organic cultivation.
These are great points - I've always been a bit confused how conversations about wine seem to forget the total history of most regions. I think about Brunello-gate for the time they got in trouble for mixing in other grapes secretly. Or when Chianti and Rioja and Chaneneuf-du-Pape all had to course correct because they started prizing bulk wine over quality. Most regions have been leaders and then shameful at different times, there is never any guarantee, certainly not always and forever.
@Kate - Total wine is a warehouse, so it contains everything, the good the bad and ugly. But there are small winery imports, for instance, that can only be found there. Small French producers that have a deal with them and don't make enough wine to have it go anywhere else. You have to wade through the sheer numbers, or go in knowing what you're looking for, but there's gold in them hills.
Great stuff, Charlie! I've been asking wine shop owners and employees this past week how often customers seem to look for these labels, and the consensus seems to be: they don't, but they do ask for "organic" or "natural", etc. So they're eager for the product, but aren't trained to look for labels, as such. Plus, I looked up the stats for how much consumers trust such labels and - gulp - the stats ain't good! Anywho, all stuff I'm expand upon next week, but great write-up from previous wine bar/store owner perspective!
A great argument for the immense value that independent bricks and mortar businesses still offer. Curation and assistance from a trusted source are still by far the best way to get to the good stuff.
Cheers Simon. Despite no longer owning a bricks and mortar wine store, I will wave the flag for them always!
I think outside mostly why I rarely drink American wines are because most European vineyards that have been in families for generations consider themselves curators of their land not owners. They always have been organic/sustainable, whatever label you put on it. Where America allows some really repulsive additives with no transparency. I agree. Know where to buy- Total Wine type mega box shops and a supermarket you will mostly find things I avoid.
I think this is an over-romanticised view. For example, many family estates in Burgundy (or name any other classic European wine region you like) embraced synthetic fertilisers and pesticides with glee in the 1970s and 1980s. And many have continued to work in that way until someone strong enough emerged from a younger generation to stand up and ask "why do we need to work like this?"
The sea-change in Europe has come from the 1990s on, when quality wine estates started to realise that they were destroying their own most precious asset (their soil) by bombarding it with chemicals and killing off the life in their vineyards.
But the majority of wineries in Europe still prefer to use herbicides, and fungicides when it rains, rather than the considerably more arduous option of working organically.
Bear in mind that only about 10% of vineyards in France are worked organically. The largest proprtion is in Austria, with about 25% of their vineyard surface under organic cultivation.
These are great points - I've always been a bit confused how conversations about wine seem to forget the total history of most regions. I think about Brunello-gate for the time they got in trouble for mixing in other grapes secretly. Or when Chianti and Rioja and Chaneneuf-du-Pape all had to course correct because they started prizing bulk wine over quality. Most regions have been leaders and then shameful at different times, there is never any guarantee, certainly not always and forever.
@Kate - Total wine is a warehouse, so it contains everything, the good the bad and ugly. But there are small winery imports, for instance, that can only be found there. Small French producers that have a deal with them and don't make enough wine to have it go anywhere else. You have to wade through the sheer numbers, or go in knowing what you're looking for, but there's gold in them hills.
Great stuff, Charlie! I've been asking wine shop owners and employees this past week how often customers seem to look for these labels, and the consensus seems to be: they don't, but they do ask for "organic" or "natural", etc. So they're eager for the product, but aren't trained to look for labels, as such. Plus, I looked up the stats for how much consumers trust such labels and - gulp - the stats ain't good! Anywho, all stuff I'm expand upon next week, but great write-up from previous wine bar/store owner perspective!
That's interesting about people's perceptions. Looking forward to reading your part of the conversation