I am tired of being told what is good wine, good architecture, good form, blah blah blah... As much as I don't agree with Robert Parker's opinion that great wine is a thick, dark berry, high alcohol, micro-oxygenated, inky goop, I am more distressed that I bought into another expert telling me what the goal is. Luckily, I believe this hierarchy is crumbling.
Terroir (that ephemeral label given to soil, air and other sublime geophysical characteristics) says that place contains an original and unique quality in this world different from the terroir next door or a few feet away. And on a strange aside, I remember that Janet, who lived next door to me growing up, was way weirder than me. Back to pithier scrum..
On the right bank of Bordeaux, St. Emilion is in the midst of de-classification legalities (read Edward Lewine's NY Times article). The current powers want to change the 1855 playing field, kind of like Florida in the US 2000 elections. The "experts" tried to exclude eleven properties from the Grand Cru Classes label which "did not have the proper quality of expression". Compared to what?? The power of Parker or Michel Roland is changing the character of wine as it has been; some say for the better, others take the long view. Those eleven producers have sued and won a one year reprieve. What then?
C'est dommage, but it seems the long view is not too popular these days. The farmer/vigneron/importer cannot afford (in money terms) to sit on wine of individual expression and potential if the world market wants great wine that is drinkable tonight. They say: why keep barrels of wine that only take up space in your cave for five years till you can receive profit? I get it, move the merchandise; the euro/dollar/yen rules. Today, Costco is the largest retailer of wine in the US and WalMart recently announced that they are moving into the "locally grown produce market" and are poised to become the largest retailer of local, green produce. I smell a rat and it's not oaky.
Some say, the cream rises to the top. So, who needs some outdated classification? OK, but maybe this old form levels the playing field a bit and allows those without a huge advertising budget (but great terroir) to compete? Perhaps, at the end of the day, a combination of dedicated winemaking, opinion and spin rule the world so why not embrace the original founders a little longer? I believe it is also healthy to witness the acceptance of the biodynamic movement in the wine business. Great wine has always been in the hands of nature and not the wholesalers. I'll put my faith in soil, experience and tradition any day.
PS...as far as architecture, I love the shapes of my grandfather's barns. They haunt me as I redesign them into my present world. Unbeknownst to him (?), their pleasing balance was based on the Italian basillica. But what did he know, he was just a farmer in the San Joaquin Valley flatlands who spoke poetically about the soil.
Some terroirists to consider:
Jacques Selosses champagne
Charles Joguet
