Wine tells a tale of taste and place and people.
Nothing tells that story better, more individually and with more depth of passion then artisanal vineyards making great organic wine.
Is organic healthier? Certainly.
Is it better for the environment? Without a doubt.
Is it just the right thing to do? No question.
But this is not why we love it…
Wine is neither a cause, nor a medicine, nor an ethical act. But it is truly amazing, replete with passion, oozing stories and one of life’s great taste and storied pleasures.
What does organic have to do with any of this?
Organic wine is more than a choice to reject industrialized farming. It is a decision to focus on discovering the unique taste of each place. And with the decision, comes the concentration on the vineyard more than the cave, the characteristics of the place more than the chemistry of manipulating flavor.
An art critic, I believe talking about Brancusi, said that a truly great sculpture finds the image in the stone with the least number of chisel strokes. Great organic winemakers are sculptures doing just that with the land and the grape. Not painters starting with a blank canvas. The finished piece of sculpture is that unique taste of place in the bottle.
I’m not downplaying the very real complexities of defining and legislating organic, natural and biodynamic. The food industry is still in turmoil over this after a decade. I have ideas on this that I will share in another post, but first things first is to understand the ‘why’ for a market before getting stuck in the ‘how’ of it.
And taste and a deeper connection with the place and winemaker are the ‘why’ of organic wine to me…and I believe for the mass market as well.
Wine made in a natural way, in concert with the place is just more alive in the glass. More accessible and personal, more individualistic and more unique. That is not to say that all organic wine is good…far from it. All wine is neither equal nor good. Nor is all of anything.
An organic approach to wine turns the concept of regional terroir on its head. Certainly there are characteristics of Napa or Calistoga or Etna or Arbois, but in an artisanal world of natural winemaking, each place is unique, each vineyard a micro terroir in its own right.
Don’t take my word for this…taste it yourself.
Spend some time tasting both the Poulsard and the Trousseau from Evelyne and Pascal Clairet and their tiny vineyard, Domaine de la Tournelle in Arbois. You’ll find a fingerprint of taste that resides in the land itself across the differences in the grape.
Try the magnificent Trousseaus of Jacques Puffeney and Michel Gahier in Arbois. Tiny vineyards, adjacent to each other, each using an organic approach to tending the same grape varietal, yet each of these wines is uniquely different. This is the land speaking through the grape directly to us!
And the list of my most cherished organic vineyards, like dots on my world map of great taste goes through Spain, Italy, France, the Canary Islands and on and on.
So…what am I really trying to say?
Organic is the right way….in everyway, in life. There is no argument here as responsible informed people. But the real thing that matters and the point for vineyards and wine shops and wine drinkers…is that organic wine brings to your glass a taste, depth, richness and delight that has freshness, crispness and an overall sense of itself that is special.
Think about your local farmer’s market. When I head out to shop on Saturday, I ask each vendor the same question..”Do you spray or use synthetic fertilizer?” If no, I try it. If it tastes great, I’ll be back to buy more. I buy it and buy it again because it tastes great. I won’t buy it if it is sprayed…but I won’t return if it is not a taste delight.
Organic wines are invariably fresh and crisp and aromatic and unique to each spot…and vivacious at their best. They are not overextracted nor coerced into a preconceived taste mold. They are all about the vineyard.
When I started drinking the wines of Jacques Puffeney, he was referred to as the preeminent vigneron in Arbois. The definition of a vigneron as a winemaker who focuses on the importance of the land and vineyard over the craft of the cave, is I think, the key component of a natural and organic approach to winemaking.
I’m a fan of the organic wine iconoclast Salvo Foti of I Vigneri fame in the Mt. Etna area of Sicily. He believes that wine has its own composition that is created by the grape, the vine, the vineyard, the climatic conditions and the individual (vineyard worker and winemaker). I buy this. It doesn’t mean a total hands-off approach in the cave but it does mean that they are farmers first, curators of the process, second. Again, a true vigneron.
I am neither a purist nor an organic fundamentalist nor an orthodox biodynamic zealot. Sure, I certainly believe that natural food and wine is better for us and for the ecosystems of the world we are responsible for. Who doesn’t? But I start with what I like on my palate and I move on from there.
Great wine…organic or not is my passion and yes, the thought of opening my last bottle of 1990 Ugolaia Lisini Brunello di Montalcino that will melt my body and brain with pleasure…supersedes anything about how it was made. I’m human…obviously.
But when I go to my local wine shop, out to dinner with friends, or travel around the world to visit and taste…I’m drawn to the small artisanal organic wines and vineyards that embrace taste and passion for place first.
I relish the clarity that their dedication and passion for shepherding the vineyard with the goal of uncovering its natural taste brings to their wine, the wine world at large…and to my glass.
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My thanks to the team at Chambers Street Wines in Tribeca, NYC.
Especially Christopher Barnes and Sophie Barrett for leading me to incredible organic wines to taste. They may not agree with my conclusions in this post, but they are the best guides one could hope for.
