| The Razor's Edge of Wine | | | | By: Alder Yarrow | << back  Page 2 of 2 |
Such activities represent the most basic, the most primitive, the least technological things that are done to wine, yet somehow most of us manage to labor in the supposition that “real wines” or “natural wines” (or whatever meaningless label we use to signify the opposite of a technological monstrosity) do not themselves bear the distinct imprint of technological intervention.
Wine does not make itself. It never has. Every wine is a technological product. End of story.
Or maybe not.
At the very least, there is another story whose opening sentences need voicing: It is the story of every wine lover’s decision about how much technology is too much. Just as many people are coming to grips with how they feel about genetically modified foods, so too must wine drinkers decide what techniques are acceptable for use in their wines.
Some assistance must be provided through improvements in requirements for labeling and disclosure of these techniques, of course, but such efforts mean nothing without wine drinkers coming to grips with the fact that what they drink is technologically modified grape juice. Furthermore, each of us has to decide what we think can be done to a wine before it ceases to be what we want from wine and becomes a wine-flavored beverage.
This is an individual choice, but one that must be made with eyes wide open. For too many people, the answer about the acceptable level of technological addition to wine is zero, a stance which demonstrates ignorance as much as it does strong principles.
Personally I am still making up my mind, mostly through learning about winemaking and continuing to taste as much as I can. I haven’t figured out which techniques ruin a wine for me and which ones enhance it, so I drink the stuff I like and pour out the stuff I don’t. I imagine that one day I may find out that some wines I like have had surprising things done to them, and that some wines I like are made using more traditional technologies. Eventually we’ll each find the razor’s edge to walk between what we like and what we disdain as artificial.
The only way to walk a tightrope is with open eyes, and preferably with a wine glass in hand.
Drink. Learn. Repeat as necessary.
About the Author:
Since January of 2004, Alder Yarrow has been publishing Vinography.Com, where he writes daily about wines, the wine world, and good restaurants around the globe. San Francisco Magazine calls Alder "the wine world's brightest cyberstar" and Vinography is is widely acknowledged to be the world's leading wine blog. The site, which Alder began as a way to collect his own personal notes about wine and food, has garnered praise from Food and Wine Magazine, Bon Appetit Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The LA Times, The Washington Post, FastCompany, and 7x7 Design Magazine, among others.
In both his writing, as well as his selected postings of news and miscellany from the world of wine, Alder tries to create an alternative to the traditional sources and styles of wine journalism, partially by focusing on the stories, the people, and the passion behind wine from a decidedly down-to-earth perspective. Vinography was recently honored for the second year in a row as the best blog on the Internet covering wine, beer, or spirits at the Food Blogging Awards. In addition to publishing Vinography, Alder is the resident wine columnist for the online magazine The Gilded Fork and has also written for Edible San Francisco and Epicurious.Com. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Ruth
Website URL: www.vinography.com
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