If you asked me a year ago I’d have told you, like most men, that I prefer red wine over white. I’m not a wine snob or even really someone with too much of an interest but I’ve drunk enough and experimented enough to say I broadly prefer Cotes du Rhones and Beaujolais. French reds. Lately though some friends cajoled me into joining a few wine tasting sessions, nothing fancy just glorified marketing from local posher liquor stores specializing in wine. Its the height of modern WASPish and AWFLness on the one hand but on the other you have some deeply passionate people talking about wines where blood and soil really do matter. BAP jokes aside about the nature of wine bars themselves wine itself is something of value.
Like anything of value, that requires taste, wine has a depth and obsession to it. It is, alongside cheese, one of the defining culinary hallmarks of the European peoples. No one else has gone as deeply into wine making as we have. Almost every European nation kissed with the sun and conditions has been making wine, we know the skill and dedicated stretches back into antiquity. The famous amphora and wine trade was part and parcel of the Roman empire. As Europeans expanded out into the world in their faustian ways they brought with them not just livestock but also vines and grapes. Vines that once grew only in France or Italy or Spain now are found in the New World. Chile, Argentina, South Africa, America, Australia. All new wine regions, an introduced vine launching a drinking revolution.
There is something deeply rooted about wine as well. The Spanish do not have Champagne, that is a name for the French of a certain region. It has meaning. It is not just interchangeable. The Spanish have Cava, the Italians Prosecco. All sparkling wines yes but they have something linked to them. Within wine making there are many eccentric and almost esoteric practices - take biodynamic wine making:
Biodynamic wine is a holistic approach to viticulture and winemaking that truly emphasizes the interconnectedness of every aspect of the farming process, including the vines, humans, soil, moon, and other celestial bodies. This philosophy goes beyond traditional organic farming practices, viewing the vineyard as a closed ecosystem where nothing is isolated or disconnected.
That kind of language and thinking fits right at home with esoteric right wing body building practices! Even the better known stories from the wine world have to do with elements of tradition and proving oneself. The Judgement of Paris where Californian wines were seen as better than French - winning the blind competition was an earthquake in that world. Now today America has good wines, as does the old world. That spirit of the European peoples lives on in wine to some extent, as much as there are downsides to alcohol there is much beauty and revelry with it. There is much to enjoy.
This though is not just a small pean to wine - not rather it is actually about the development of taste. You see as I alluded to at the start I thought of myself as being more into the red wines but through these wine tastings and exposure to some other wines I have developed more of an interest in whites. Especially in the summer. Most people think of annoying women drinking Chardonnays when it comes to white wine but in truth there is a great amount of depth in different whites. I’ve come to really appreciate the Spanish Verdejo, the Portugese Vino Verde, white wines I’d never thought of. Taste is a complex thing, others at the wine tasting have their own, they talk about liking things I don’t or even picking up on certain flavors I am not. Of course part of this is guided by the wine merchant themselves, they can offer up what to expect or talk about what is present. The question becomes a bit of “would I have detected element X without being told?” in most cases with the big changes yes of course. The saltiness and freshness, the high acid response of some that make your mouth water - these are real and easy to detect. Other flavors might be more subtle, that comes from experience.
In many ways wine itself is shaped by the reviewers in our culture. There is an emphasis on big heavy reds because those are in fact the most well known critics favorites. They score highly on their created scales. This influences taste, there is always always a vanguard present in any movement. What that influential wine critic likes trickles out into the wider sphere, it goes as far as to of course influence more modern wine makers to chase what is being rewarded. One of the more sensible pieces of advice I’ve heard from someone if you want to get into, that is really into, wine is to find a critic who matches your taste. Be bold enough to go it alone at first and disagree with a critic. You buy the bottle and you taste it.
Here I find myself, enjoying another excellent summer but with a different background. Instead of defaulting to the cold crisp lager I have opted for many times in the past I’m trying something a bit different. Let’s face it I’m not putting cities to the sword with fire but neither is it gay to cultivate taste and appreciate the good things in life. If there is one thing that I despise about elements of modern reflexive ‘conservatism’ it is the inverted worship of bad things. Bad diner coffee over a well made cortado. My friend Dave Martel has noticed and observed similar. There exists a weird cult of liking bad things for bad reasons because it’s in contrast to the corrupted elites. I hate to say it though but sometimes those corrupted elites still might have good taste in certain areas. We come full circle back to wine, of course wine needs a connection to the soil. The French word terroir. It is something beyond that speaks to the soil where it is grown, we know of course that is tied to the people whether they have lived for generations immemorial in the old world or new generations putting down vines in the New.
We should go forward, we should appreciate good things. Tasty things. We should value beauty and heritage all together. The sun is high in the sky and summer in full swing. Develop a palette, drink up something new, think carefully about what you experience. Celebrate it all with a nice glass of plonk!