I went for a pub lunch yesterday and was deciding what to drink when I saw the wine of the week advertised on the board: Grillo -Viognier it proudly claimed. The name sounded awful. Some wine drinkers will know the name Viognier, but only the real cognoscenti will know that Grillo is a little known grape variety from Sicily, which was used principally for the production of Marsala. I decided to eat a hamburger so I opted for a beer.
Why on earth do most wine drinkers want to know that their Sicilian wine is made from the Grillo grape. Surely, they are more interested in where the wine comes from and who made it. There are some excellent fruity red and white wines coming from the island and they are excellent value for money.
The practice of naming wine by the grape variety originated in the Alsace region of France. Why they ever did this I do not know. It did not make their wines anymore well known . Gewurztraminer does not trip off my tongue too easily.
Think about it: wine is made from grapes and the process completely transforms the flavours of the grape to other aromas and tastes. Wine never tastes of grapes. There is no point drinking wine if you just want the taste of grapes; just slip some vodka into the grape juice and off you go.
I am always amused when I hear someone, in a wine bar, order a glass of white wine, "not Chardonnay", but when given a Chablis they rarely complain. Who I am to criticise, I order wine by the grape variety myself, but I wish I did not always have to.
The reason why consumers do not like "Chardonnay" is because most "Chardonnay" is produced using the same techniques , from grapes which are unsuited to the soil and from vines which have been recently planted. The wine will probably have been adjusted for acidity and other chemical levels and will have been filtered. These types of wine are produced everywhere in the wine making world from the South of France, Italy, Chile and Australia. Even though they are made in numerous locations they all taste the same. And, that is why they have the same name, "Chardonnay", on the bottle. They are perfectly good wines but the consumer is getting bored. So they ask for Pinot Grigio instead.
Marketing experts, from the New World have picked up the idea of varietal labelling and they have made "a meal of it". It has been very successful for them. They are trading off the famous names of the noble grapes. Most of these grapes originated in France, even Shiraz which is a synonym for Syrah. The French wine market has been set back so much, by this ploy, that it now responding by changing the naming conventions. How long will it be before Chablis is called "Chardonnay"; Bourgogne Rouge is called "Pinot Noir" and Bordeaux is called "Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc"- what a mouthful in more than one respect?
One of my favourite American wines is Qupe but the name Syrah never enters into my mind even though it is on the label. I have had the pleasure of drinking Penfold's Grange and I have always thought of it by name, not the fact that it is made from Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. It is the pedigree of the winemaker that matters not the grapes that he uses. But the variety must match the growing conditions. Pinot Noir grapes thrive in cooler climates that is why they are used to make Champagne and Red Burgundy. Wine made from this grape variety and grown in a hot climate usually tastes awful: that is why I never drink a "Pinot Noir" from the South of France.
One of my favourite American beers is from the Brooklyn Brewery, they make fantastic beer and market it well without telling me the variety of hops or barley used to make the brew. They trade off their good name. Wine should be the same. The best wine comes from the best producers or estates and they should be proud to sell their wine by name rather than grape variety.
If you want to find a special wine which reflects the character of a region or a country, then I recommend that you assure yourself that it is made by a producer who uses grapes, from his own estate or from verifiable parcels of land, which are suited to the soil and climate.
Many wines which are labelled according to grape variety are produced in bulk. They are perfectly good wines for drinking at a barbecue or party or at the local restaurant but they are not special. Estate bottled wines will cost you more but they are worth it if you are looking for character and interesting flavour.
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