29 November 2007 by Sandy Hemphill
The Problem with Modern Vintages
The thrill is gone.
Once upon a time, the game of wine was played by farmers with a swashbuckler’s spirit who dared to brave the challenges presented by the changing of the seasons and the whims of the weather. Who bravely and courageously fought tooth and nail (or is that nose and palate?) to overcome any challenge the vagaries of nature could conjure up.
The problem with modern vintages is that, now, we silly wine-loving humans think we’ve got unpredictable issues under control. Under our control.
Unfortunately for the game of wine, we actually do have a large portion of the situation under our control. To get that control, we use irrigation, fungicides, pesticides, fertilizers, soil additives, and all kinds of highly technological methods to think we are in control of both the weather and of viniculture.
These scientific marvels of technological mastery over vineyard production often leave us with wines that are just as sterile and lacking in personality as is this sentence. Yuck! Who wants to serve that to family and friends?
Gone are the days when one year’s harvest tasted like the sun-kissed summer dancing along the southern slopes of a particular vineyard while the next year’s crop was drenched in rain and graced with a cool, cloudy growing season that ended in an early frost.
Gone, too, are the days when friends could toast to the virtues of the 1962 vintage, or the ’29, or the ’84 while making vinegar from the ’63 or the ’28, or the ’85.
Gone, pretty much, too, is the excitement associated with sinking a bundle of hard-earned cash into a vintage expected to age gracefully, growing in value as the years passed, while knowing to avoid investing in something similar produced elsewhere or at the same place but during another year because it was deemed to be a less-than-stellar bottling.
Today’s big-business agricultural practices go a long way in ensuring the vintner that every year’s harvest will be profitable. And this is a very good thing, because we wine-lovers want those vintners to keep on producing our beloved beverage. And we respect the time and money the vintner has invested on our behalf.
The problem with modern vintages is that they are so predictably reliable from one year to the next. This is good for the vintner because we know when we buy a bottle of his wine that we’re getting a quality product. This is good for us because we encounter fewer surprises.
This is not good, however, for those of us who relish the thrill of the vintage.
Fortunately, there are ways to find that thrill. They just take a little more effort than in times past.
To thoroughly enjoy that thrill of the vintage, it’s necessary to find a wine maker, usually a small, “boutique”-style vintner these days, who does a very good job of doing what he or she does but who also respects the influence of the elements.
Find a vineyard that bottles wine without adding anything, including irrigation. These winemaking modern-day renegades rely on their wits, their expertly selected grape stock, their location, and their climate to play the game of wine with the skill and aplomb of an Old World master.
The absolute best these vineyards offer will vary from one year to the next but that is the absolute joy, the beauty, of their product. Every farmer will tell you the weather is a tremendous influence on the outcome of every crop, grapes included, and the variance from one year to the next makes the world of wine exciting.
Once the weather makes its mark on the crop, the expertise of the people provides the polish. This is where the game of wine is played to its best.
To really appreciate the game of wine, find that vineyard that employs Old World, time-tested technique and follow its production for several years. Pay very close attention to its local weather reports. Get to know and recognize the nuances of weather as it is presented in each vintage’s bottle. Look for the ways the vintner used the weather to tweak the vintage. Or the way he let the weather shine through.
When natural vineyard practices are the standard, the game of wine remains fresh and vibrant. Alive with anticipation of this year’s harvest. Investment value varies as wildly and as excitedly as anything you’ll find on the stock market. Only the investment in a fine wine will taste much more satisfying than the investment in an equally fine widget.
The only time in recent history that humans prevailed over weather with vigor and lasting effect was with the vintages produced – and those not produced – during times of war in Europe.
For some of us, an uninterrupted supply of wine, weather be damned, is excuse enough to end war once and for all. Wine enjoyed in times of peace is always a thrillingly good vintage and a wise investment for all, isn’t it?