Belated update on the ‘mad’ world of wine

By mthomas

Photography by Steve Howse for Decanter

I have been so caught up in my practice, teaching, marking, writing and acting as an external examiner for Doctoral vivas that I feel like a terrible slacker in terms of blogging and wine. There have been some incredible things going on in the world of wine (dare I mention Billionaire’s Vinegar?) but I have not been able to find time to comment on these seismic events or the ‘fall-out’ on other blogs. I think the picture of me to the left captures a sense of the world speeding along as I contemplate things… 

Despite this, I have managed to read a couple of books and have added them to the bibliography/research list as I think they are both fundamentally psychological in terms of what they say about important issues and figures in the world of wine. The first Billionaire’s Vinegar has resulted in some really contentious blogs and forum contributions that have been fascinating to follow. I would not want to add to hurt feelings or lawyers’ profits but would urge people to be aware of the issues involved as they cut across the world of  ‘fine, rare and old wine’ in terms of  provenance, reputation, expert opinion, economics and potential conflicts of interest. The psychological implications of this compelling but slightly tawdry tale could occupy a gaggle of PhD students for some time.

The other book, now in paperback, is the Emperor of Wine by Elin McCoy (hardback picked up in an Oxfam bookshop in Bristol between vivas) which I have been meaning to read for some time. Robert Parker is, without doubt, a fascinating character and probably the most influential person in the world of wine (perhaps ever). Being that influential is bound to involve costs and benefits and I am constantly weighing these up in terms of his influence. Again, some blogs take polemic stances on homogeneity, the validity of scales and issues of independence and are often compulsive reading. For example this recent contribution from Jonah Lehrer on the neuropsychology of ratings and the inherent limitations of the approach. I think there are other limitations linked not only to subjectivity but to the properties ascribed to scales (which are sometimes not grounded in statistical logic).  I also think we need to distinguish issues from people and that simplistic splitting into good\bad usually fails to capture the complexity of human experience. I will review the books when things calm down (in every sense).

McCoy, E. (2008) The Emperor of Wine - The remarkable story of the rise and reign of Robert Parker Published by Grub Street

ISBN-10: 1906502242  ISBN-13: 978-1906502249

Wallace, B. (2009) The Billionaire’s Vinegar; The mystery of the world’s most expensive bottle of wine Three Rivers Press (CA)

ISBN-10: 0307338789 ISBN-13: 978-0307338785

Loire Chinon

By mthomas

 I picked up this bottle of  Cabernet Franc in the Loire over Summer. Made by Beatrice and Pascal Lambert of the now biodynamic Domaine Les Cesnaies.  The Domaine lies to the East of Chinon and the Lamberts work the different soils of the area to produce a surprisingly wide portfolio of  wines. Their website is well worth a look as it is full of information about their careful approach to terroir and viniculture. The treatment of their fruit is clearly set out and although Les terrasses is one of their entry level wines I was impressed by the freshness and purity of fruit. 

I was reminded that I had a bottle in the cellar by a ‘Decanter Advertorial’ in the new (November) issue written by Sarah Ahmed and Natasha Hughes. I am not a huge fan of advertorials but this example was surprisingly informative and engaging. Ahmed makes reference to Julia Harding’s MW dissertation which in 2004 had highlighted that producers in the Loire wore the slight greeness ‘as a badge of terroir’. ‘Project Cabernet Franc’ has been a drive to minimise this greeness as part of a move to a more Burgundian style. This appears to be working and these wines offer a subtle and versatile match for many foods with endorsements from the River Cafe and Nobu. Served cellar cool with roast chicken it is a delight and a great substitute for Burgundy and is real antidote to some of the heavier reds I have been tasting recently.

European grant for wine education courses

By mthomas

English Chardonnay

I have been trying to catch up on what has been happening in the UK since returning from the USA. A key story for me has been the recently announced grant of £1.6 million from the European Commission to help develop wine education. It was also good to hear that Plumpton Agricultural College (website here) will be leading the way in delivering the classes. I have happy memories of going to open days at the college when young and hope to visit the next one with my own children. I have also corresponded with Chris Foss who runs the wine courses and it is clear that Plumpton are leading the way at the moment in terms of English viticultural curricular development. As an educator I am passionate about investment at this level and am relieved in these tough times that money, albeit it never enough, can be found to support the development of important programmes such as those run at Plumpton.

It is positive that investment is being made to encourage people to train in viticulture as this is what underpins the whole industry. Becoming a Master of Wine is perhaps more attractive to many as there are less cold mornings spent in fields but without a new generation of makers there would be little role for the retailers, critics and bloggers…

Times online story here