Oh God I'm guilty of it too. I'll stick my nose up at some Italian Cabernet Sauvignon or Sauvignon Blanc and say to a producer, "But what about your [fill in the autochthonous grape blank]?" Yet I like many an Italian Pinot Nero and Riesling. Sono ipocrita!
The new orthodoxy of autochthonous-vines-only was intended as a corrective. Enough with these barriqued, overextracted Cabs and Chards from Tuscany and Sicily! Give us the real deal! Give us what's unique and special about Italy!
Mystery vineyard view in February
Except that a good wine is a good wine, and sometimes a barriqued wine is superb, and sometimes an Italian Merlot is superb.
I have been drinking one such Merlot tonight. From Friuli. One with a few years on it -- 2000 vintage. And it's beautiful. Furthermore, it's no insult to say that it has a French refinement about it. The wine is
one I said I had no interest in bringing to the USA. The 2000 Merlot from I Clivi, a winery I've written about several times, and whose whites I think are exceptional.
Their Merlot comes from their Galea vineyard, which surrounds the Zanussos' house. With a sunny southern and SE exposure, the steep vineyard also produces excellent Tocai Friulano.
The 2000 Merlot weighs in at 13.5% alcohol and with the denomination of Colli Orientali del Friuli. This isn't the most exalted DOC of the area, but it doesn't matter. The wine itself is slightly...burnished-looking, a tad faded with age (you can tell no colorants came into play here), with a delicate, truly vinous taste and long finish that reminds you of tea leaves (a lot of sediment there) and autumn. We had it tonight with a tuna steak that was fairly tasteless. Thank heaven we had the wine to give the meal a lift.
And so I ponder the excesses of the vitigni autoctoni movement, especially as it is played out in our fundamentalist land. The problem with absolute, extreme positions is that you don't allow any room for adaptation, growth, recognition that some things are, mirabile dictu, better than they seem. But the proof, as always, is in the tasting. And in letting your mind accept inconvenient truths.
Exactly, my friend. We hear way too much talk -- and this from long-experienced writers about wine -- that they have a "European palate," and so can't tolerate the wines of California or Australia, or that they only want to write about the most authentic wines of tiny regions no one has ever heard of, all of which speaks of a narrowness in vision and imagination. People who write about wine should give their readers what they (the readers) deserve: breadth of experience and coverage and knowledge, with keen judgment but without bias.
Posted by: fredric koeppel | June 24, 2008 at 08:48 AM
I was, in no small part, inspired by one of your recent posts. But it's a subject that's been vexing me for some time.
As to wine writers who write without overt bias, I have to say that, in general, I find the British better at that than Americans. Maybe it's just the sign of a more developed wine culture. We Yanks seem to exhibit the brash insistence of the enthusiastic neophyte. (I place myself in this category, too. Though, I hope, not always.)
Posted by: th | June 24, 2008 at 09:08 AM
if any area in italy should be making merlot, it is the northeast. friuli (maybe a bit more than the veneto) tends to put its stamp on whatever it grows...however, i am instantly bored when i see cabmerlotchard from dovunque, italia.
i don't think it's as much about fundamentalism and pretension as it is about wanting to connect with another place by experiencing something unique from there.
Posted by: tracie b | June 24, 2008 at 09:36 AM
tracie, I think it's about both things, your point and mine. The essential thing is to keep an open mind and palate. That's all I'm sayin.
Posted by: th | June 24, 2008 at 09:55 AM
Some magazine writers here(Italy)have long ago suggested that 'traditional' is a better, and more specific, term that authoctoni(autoctone)...for instance, greco di tufo is originally Greek but many look at it as Italian since it's been here so long. Therefore it's traditional, but not indigenous. Same with Franciacorta, France controlled the region for a short time(francia corta)and brought their own grapes for sparkling wines..not a bad idea even if they are just chardonnay and pinot noir. Another similar term for me was 'assemblagio' where people often mistakenly say 'uvaggio'. If the grapes are not fermented together at the same time it's an assemblagio and not an uvaggio. Tracey, have you had any Ticino merlot? Even though it's actually Switzerland it feels(and they mostly speak)Italian. They can tend to over-oak them so watch out for the most expensive ones...
Posted by: michele colline | June 24, 2008 at 10:51 AM
I love the i Clivi Merlot. It expresses its unique terroir and as such is nothing like the mass-produced homogeneous stuff that the autochthonous grape movement rails against. And bravo for being able to use a word like autochthonous in your post after tippling.
Posted by: Sharon | June 24, 2008 at 02:10 PM
UGH
I could never drink Riesling!
Posted by: Lisa Qiu | June 24, 2008 at 04:24 PM
is lisa being ironic?
Posted by: fredric koeppel | June 25, 2008 at 06:35 AM
No. Lisa is a young lady with principles.
You are, aren't you, Lisa?
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With the resurgence of interest in Hitler in more ways than one, Germany has come out with a Waffen SS-Riesling.
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