Postmodern Winemaking
by
September 2010
Just as the heart of rock and roll is the beat, the foundation of the soul of wine is texture. In this column, we have often discussed the connection between fine colloidal structure and the aromatic integration that leads to soulfulness. Beyond this physical feature, great wines are tuned in to harmony, a human preference that we hold in common. For the postmodern winemaker to work in this medium requires both technical expertise and artistic sensibility.
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August 2010
We’ve all seen it coming. European wines are sold based on place, New World wines on varietal. As a result, Europe’s designations are more consumer-friendly, while those from the Americas remain a confusing science project. The time is approaching to convert our industry into a real business by identifying and promoting just what our regions offer.
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July 2010
“When the water of a place is bad, it is safest to drink none that has not been filtered through the berry of a grape or the tub of a malt. These are the most reliable filters yet invented.”
—Wendell Phillips, English novelist, 1835-1902
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June 2010
While winemakers will typically mouth the platitude that wine quality happens in the vineyard, Kay Bogart has actually walked the walk. After 15 years on the winemaking side, she approached her boss, talented winemaker Mark Lyon of Sebastiani, with a request to focus herself in the field—but not as a viticulturalist. “Vineyard enology” (VE), as she termed it, focuses not on growing grapes but on making sure they contain the right ingredients to make the intended wine. What follows is largely what Kay and I worked out while she directed the vineyard enology program at Vinovation from 2000 to 2005.
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May 2010
Søren Kierkegaard famously remarked that life must be lived forwards but can only be understood backwards.
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April 2010
My postmodern definition of winemaking is: “the practical art of touching the human soul with the soul of a place by rendering its grapes into liquid music.” If grape flavors of origin are primary, what is the role of oak?
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March 2010
So now we’re pregnant. In our first two columns about Postmodern Winemaking, we touched on its history, its general tenets and its usefulness in growing and making age-worthy wines. I explored the role of good colloidal structure in aromatic integration, soulfulness and longevity, and stated the principles necessary for obtaining the ideal building blocks for stable colloidal structure.
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February 2010
Every wine has one of three purposes: to delight, to impress or to intrigue. Generous, pleasant wines make us smile (the “yummy” style). Big, impactful wines with aggressive tannins and high alcohol are designed to blow us away (the “wow!” style). The rise of these styles in recent years parallels the growth in popularity of comedy and action/adventure films over dramas.
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January 2010
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