The True “Way” of Wine: People of the Dirt

The term terroir refers to the soil in which the vines grow, the climate and nuances of that site,
its elevation and angle of exposition to the sun, along with the desires and intentions of
the people farming the site and making the wine. That last element is the most powerful.
It can permit a wine to express the character of a site, or it can overwhelm it. So terroir
really refers to the potential of a place rather than its unwavering qualities.
~ Eric Asimov

Wine is not wine is not wine. In this age of extreme consumerism, much of what we find on the
shelves (especially in grocery stores) has been designed according to a market-driven formula.
The grapes are picked very ripe, the maceration and fermentation programmed, and during its
time in the cellar, the developing liquid is manipulated by additives and scientific processes. This
all occurs because there are oceans of wine to be pushed through a system that emphasizes brand
and image rather than their inherent quality. The flavors are created to mimic the “profile” of
wines that have proven to be successful on the palates of millions of new and regular buyers.
Wineries that were iconic and family-owned are now controlled (directly or indirectly) and
branded by vast conglomerates that have acquired them to leverage (and exploit) the name
recognition earned through years of careful husbandry of the vineyards and meticulous attention
to the cellar. The resulting “branded” products most often bear little resemblance to the wines
curated by the original wineries.

What follows is an attempt by a serious amateur to identify, describe, and document an
alternative reality, one in which the thing in your glass results from farming practices, gentle
handling and elevation of the juice, and, perhaps above all, an overriding philosophy of care, and
responsibility to thousands of those who came before and toiled to create something wonderful
and essential to their lives, and ours. And to the unique places where the vines live.

Great winemaking and the resulting wine are not accidental nor preordained. Worthy wines exist
because of a dedication to quality and the practices that optimize the probability of success,
vintage upon succeeding vintage. These wines owe their very existence to a family name and/or,
a plot of ground, and an irresistible consciousness of pride in accomplishment, no matter the
cost. Some of these wines come from old vineyards that have been saved through the efforts of
winemakers who have fought developers and regulatory agencies. The wine need not be famous
nor widely sought after nor expensive in order to be noteworthy.

This work will center around interactions and discussions with some of those people for whom
this “way” is not negotiable. They come from different backgrounds and methods. Some own
their fields and farms, some have developed long-standing relationships with growers. They may
have an impressive production facility or share space with others. They may be found on well-
traveled and noteworthy wine routes or obscure, hard to reach, backroads and small, dusty towns.
What they share is a personal vision of “success” and deep-seated search for authenticity and the
joy of discovery. They understand the risk and calculous of failure and yet they do more than
persevere, they embrace it. It goes with the territory and their dedication. These conditions seem
to a careful observer almost irrelevant. If you ever have the privilege of spending unhurried time
with someone similar to those chronicled here, watch, wait for that moment when they lose
themselves in the moment of discovery of some unexpected or hoped for aroma or taste. You will
observe something transcendental when self disappears and the moment consumes everything.

The purpose and hope here is that the reader will become curious, even inspired, enough to
search for such wines. They may seem challenging at first because the colors and textures and
flavors can be unusual. They are not, necessarily, immediately rewarding. They do not always
explode on the palate with power or roundness or voluptuous viscosity. They may even seem
restrained, light, lacking in “fruit”, even strange. One must wait, savor, even find a new way of
thinking about what wine is, can be. Pairing with food may be one of the best ways to explore
them. These wines are food, by the way, for both thought and sustenance. They are not products
or inventions, rather, at least as much art as science and technology. The wines we are exploring
here are natural in the sense that they are a work of nature. The fruit ripens, develops sugar and
acid and complex flavors; the indigenous yeast on the skins is especially capable of converting
the sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol, each of which plays a special role in the development
and protection of the resulting wine. The wine and the pleasure received are gifts to us, not
commodities to be marketed for profit.

ECH