I have a unpleasant task in front of me; I must apologize for my wine sins.
I’m guilty of wine bigotry.
This has largely been fueled by personal bias. I’m afraid that when facing a wine that I just don’t like, I stereotype the wine, and condemn not only the offending wine but others that are similar to it. Likewise, I’ll vilify the vintage, and lob specious broadsides against those who don’t share my outlook.
Horrible, I know. Unprofessional. Immature. Yes, all true. I offer no excuses for my behavior. I should (and do) know better. It’s just…(and I find no delight in saying this)…its just that I like high acid wines better than riper, fruitier wines.
Please, however, allow me to be clear. My sin is not that I prefer one wine (or type of wine) to another. That’s perfectly acceptable. My sin is that I judged other wines by my personal preferences and intimated (or said outright) that the wines that I didn’t prefer were of a lesser quality. I acted like a…wine critic. I’m so ashamed.
Ok, I’m being a little silly here, but not entirely. I really don’t like high alcohol wines, I tend to think that wines that are (in my view) excessively ripe are flawed. Wines that come from riper grapes have a tendency to be fruit forward and that’s just not my preference. But now, I’ll go on record and say…riper wines are not always bad; they are not always flawed. I just don’t like them.
Ripeness, frankly, is a prized attribute in grape growing. The hallowed sites, the vineyards that for generations have produced exemplary wines often have southern and/or eastern exposure which allows for more sun on the grapes for more hours in the day. More sun equals more ripeness. Vineyards next to lakes often benefit both because the lake holds warm temperatures and reflects the sun’s rays back onto the grapevines. Grapevines need sunlight for photosynthesis; without sunlight, sugars don’t develop. And without sugars, there is no fermentation. I am definitely pro-sunshine.
And yes, sunshine will alter the flavor of the wine. The Californian sun makes that Russian River Valley Pinot Noir not very Burgundian. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. Admittedly, not my favorite. But I don’t have to drink it. I can drink the wine that I prefer; from Burgundy or Northern Italy or wherever.
If ripeness is to be prized, then under-ripeness is too be avoided. Usually, when one hears of a ‘bad’ vintage, under-ripeness is the cause. A cloudy summer can cause less ripeness. And if the less ripe grapes must be harvested because of low temperatures or impeding rain, then the resulting wine can be harshly acidic or taste ‘green’ or ‘leafy’ or ‘vegetal’. None of those things are, uhm, optimum.
The other big question regarding ripeness is that of aging wines. The opinion that has long been held (by me anyway) is that more acidic wines are more ageworthy than lower acid wines. And this is unequivocally true…sometimes. High sugar wines also age well. Some high alcohol wines age well (Amarone). Some don’t (Zinfandel). What are the rules? When do you know?
The dirty secret is that you don’t really know. The varied factors that contribute to successful production of a high quality wine can be quantified, mostly. The pleasure and sometimes pain of wine is that it’s not always automatic. Modern winemaking (also known as science) has helped deliver more and better wines today than at any time in history. Tomorrow, there will be more and better still. Many of them will be ripe. Many will be riper than I like.
Oh well. I just have to live with that.