I want wine that screams where it came from...

skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...

Demand for wine has skyrocketed with increasing affluence and large segments of the population in various countries are exposed to wine in their daily lives. There's an educating process going on - just think of the working class in England or rednecks in Pennsylvania. The potential market volume is huge and vintners best bet is to supply neophytes with easy but good wine. They'll stick with the easy names and go for the recognizable tastes.

Next step will be to demand 'better' wine, with more oomph, i.e. concentrated, alcoholic, chewable wine... That's where Parker comes in... A bit unfair to blame him, though. He specializes in Bordeaux and has rightly critiziced the poor wines made there (and praised the good ones, mind you). No wonder that many vintners scramble to please his tastes utilizing every means to make as much powerful wine as possible (instead of reducing yields, for one thing).

Finally, you get tired from the overblown monstrosities and start to explore nuances, varieties, complexity, interplay of flavors and the effects of terroir and aging.

Let's face it - only a minor part of the population will ever want to reach that level, but 5 per cent of 3 billion people are after all 150 million - there is bound to be a big increase in the supply of wines with individuality, eventually.

Anders

dave snipped-for-privacy@nospamcop.net (Dave Devine) wrote in news:1hcvrs4.1xj5sarpnut34N%dave snipped-for-privacy@nospamcop.net:

That's right! We are yinzers and mill hunks here! ;) d.

enoavidh wrote in news:Xns9793A5479C403enoavidhyahoocom@136.142.185.40:

Actually all of Western Pennsylvania, where I was born by the way, is in Appalachia so we are all hill billies at heart (with the possible exception of the Italian and E. European steelworkers and miners)

I hardly ever miss the country of origin of an Amarone.

Sacerre, Chablis and Chenin from the Loire usually give themselves up, though I did miss a Napa SB, as it fooled me into thinking it was a Loire Chenin.

Burgs are fairly easy to spot, but then maybe DRCs taste like there're from Santa Rita Foothills - NOT.

Vintage and Tawny Port show their origin well.

Just a few that come immediately to mind.

Hunt

How about the vineyard?

I'm not sure that I am following you on this one. Heck, maybe I didn't follow you on the the first question posed. Are you looking for subscriber's examples of wines that indicate (to them, at least) their place of origin? Or, are you looking for examples (still personal ones) of varietals that indicate their place of origin? Or, is there something major, that I have badly missed?

As for varietals, I'd go with many. When done well, with a desire to bring that sense into a wine (by the winemaker), Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Nebbiolo, Riesling... the list goes on, and on. I've found many examples of each giving away their specific location - Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, for example.

OTOH, many winemakers choose to create a style that doesn't give so many clues to the origin of the grapes. Is that what you are going for?

I'm sorry, but I seem to have lost the intended thread in my confusion.

Hunt

I am complaining about the loss of localization, about making, for example, Merlot in Italy in a style that's identifiably neither Italian nor French, nor typical of the region in which it is grown.

I'm also talking about ripping out indigenous grape vines to plant 'international' varieties (usualy French in origin). In other words, I want wine that is typical of its region and identifiable as such. I want wine whose origin is obvious.

Because so much wine is marketed on the basis of the grape variety (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, CS, etc.) there has been a trend for wine-makers around the world to plant these grapes in areas far from where they originated. As we all know, what makes a Burgundy a Burgundy is not merely the Pinot Noir grape. Even more so in Bordeaux, where the uvaggio comprises Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc.

The appeal to the consumer is one of simplicity. He goes to the shelf and looks for Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, etc. But in doing so he misses the point.

Hunt wrote:

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