I learned WSET2 so I would not speak like that. If that was the baseline, I wanted to create a more lyrical cadence to talk about you (the consumer of) and wine. I even went so far as to create a language - something I called Wine Lyrics.
But, I had no takers. It was too different, from the containers of the past. A song sheet that was rejected by the keepers of the old language.
I like the Pink Floyd lead here, but feel like “Message in the Bottle” could really use a remix and a become a breakout hit again.
Over the years, I've tried various ideas, including little images of oak barrels and sugar bags in my Sunday Telegraph columns and sweetness/fullness ratings in WINE Mag. None of them really took off.
To use you example of different singer songwriters, one being more interesting than another, same goes for wineries and winemakers. You have to know the artist. I would advocate for Brand Education.
You could have a high level of wine education on a particular region, say Sonoma County where I make wine and there are vast differences in how the wine is made winery to winery. There is high variability in style, from winery to winery, that no amount of wine education can help with if you are selecting wine in a store, on a shelf, unless you know the brands.
Zinfandel in Sonoma County, even more specifically, Dry Creek Valley, ranges from sweet, alcoholic and oaky to moderately bodied and lightly or no oak in my little corner of the wine world. Your next-door neighbor will make Zinfandel in a style that doesn’t resemble a text book, wine blog, WSET exam, nothing. Forget about terroir and typicity.
Winery A picks Zin at 29 brix, water back a little so the yeast don’t die, start with WS and finish on Uvaferm 43 (ramming it home), extended maceration to 25 days, press hard, then finish in 50% new oak M+ toast, 16% alc, with residual sugar to choke down the alcohol and that’s a winery style.
Winery B picks Zin at 24 brix, ambient ferment, with possibly 6% Carignan and 5% Petite Sirah in an undisclosed field blend. 14 days ferment, light press, 100% neutral oak. This would be a more textbook Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley circa 1985. Some wineries still do this. Most don’t, because it doesn’t sell as well.
Education is great. Do more. But when it’s time to pick the wine, you actually have to taste it and know the winery and the current style of winemaking at the winery for all that education to kick in.
The way we talk about so much has changed -who we are having the conversation with , how we communicate and when we choose to listen are choices.Education in many forms is out there whether formal or informal through instagram, conversations ,written and spoken. Professional education and curriculum always needs continuous shakeup and reflection but if you don’t want it don’t do it that way. We have the technology to find the facts we need at light speed now so critical thinking and how to find information is more useful than a load of facts. Find another path to learn what you need. Use it as a tool in your kit, you don’t have to regurgitate everything you know to the consumer-maybe employers need to be more thoughtful about the skills they really need and cast the net wider from industries that have those skills and teach the wine stuff on the job .Education is not the problem with the Industry or the solution. The times they are a changing -great post as usual Robert
Writers who describe wine in eloquent and concise terms, without jargon or pedantry or technical showing off (Hugh Johnson, for a good example), do us consumers and wine a favour, bringing back the joy and perspective. We need more of them.
I applaud your POV and journalism on this! Enjoy your wine. Delicious with foods or without. Be curious about what is in your glass. 99% of the wine drinkers are not on an educational journey nor do they give a hoot about terroir, clones, carbonic, glassware, temperature, vintage, vines age and rootstocks, climate, racking, lees contact, closures, naturally fermenting, yeast strain, oak type, proper food matching, filter protocol, trellis type, when to open, Robert, learning is dead. I believe your POV is spot on sir! I will say this now. Beer, cocktails, ciders, and Whisky have all a commonality…no education required for enjoyment! Cheers to you! You’re right! TMcD
I learned WSET2 so I would not speak like that. If that was the baseline, I wanted to create a more lyrical cadence to talk about you (the consumer of) and wine. I even went so far as to create a language - something I called Wine Lyrics.
But, I had no takers. It was too different, from the containers of the past. A song sheet that was rejected by the keepers of the old language.
I like the Pink Floyd lead here, but feel like “Message in the Bottle” could really use a remix and a become a breakout hit again.
Over the years, I've tried various ideas, including little images of oak barrels and sugar bags in my Sunday Telegraph columns and sweetness/fullness ratings in WINE Mag. None of them really took off.
To use you example of different singer songwriters, one being more interesting than another, same goes for wineries and winemakers. You have to know the artist. I would advocate for Brand Education.
You could have a high level of wine education on a particular region, say Sonoma County where I make wine and there are vast differences in how the wine is made winery to winery. There is high variability in style, from winery to winery, that no amount of wine education can help with if you are selecting wine in a store, on a shelf, unless you know the brands.
Zinfandel in Sonoma County, even more specifically, Dry Creek Valley, ranges from sweet, alcoholic and oaky to moderately bodied and lightly or no oak in my little corner of the wine world. Your next-door neighbor will make Zinfandel in a style that doesn’t resemble a text book, wine blog, WSET exam, nothing. Forget about terroir and typicity.
Winery A picks Zin at 29 brix, water back a little so the yeast don’t die, start with WS and finish on Uvaferm 43 (ramming it home), extended maceration to 25 days, press hard, then finish in 50% new oak M+ toast, 16% alc, with residual sugar to choke down the alcohol and that’s a winery style.
Winery B picks Zin at 24 brix, ambient ferment, with possibly 6% Carignan and 5% Petite Sirah in an undisclosed field blend. 14 days ferment, light press, 100% neutral oak. This would be a more textbook Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley circa 1985. Some wineries still do this. Most don’t, because it doesn’t sell as well.
Education is great. Do more. But when it’s time to pick the wine, you actually have to taste it and know the winery and the current style of winemaking at the winery for all that education to kick in.
Thank you for the thoughtful response
The way we talk about so much has changed -who we are having the conversation with , how we communicate and when we choose to listen are choices.Education in many forms is out there whether formal or informal through instagram, conversations ,written and spoken. Professional education and curriculum always needs continuous shakeup and reflection but if you don’t want it don’t do it that way. We have the technology to find the facts we need at light speed now so critical thinking and how to find information is more useful than a load of facts. Find another path to learn what you need. Use it as a tool in your kit, you don’t have to regurgitate everything you know to the consumer-maybe employers need to be more thoughtful about the skills they really need and cast the net wider from industries that have those skills and teach the wine stuff on the job .Education is not the problem with the Industry or the solution. The times they are a changing -great post as usual Robert
Grazie!
Writers who describe wine in eloquent and concise terms, without jargon or pedantry or technical showing off (Hugh Johnson, for a good example), do us consumers and wine a favour, bringing back the joy and perspective. We need more of them.
I applaud your POV and journalism on this! Enjoy your wine. Delicious with foods or without. Be curious about what is in your glass. 99% of the wine drinkers are not on an educational journey nor do they give a hoot about terroir, clones, carbonic, glassware, temperature, vintage, vines age and rootstocks, climate, racking, lees contact, closures, naturally fermenting, yeast strain, oak type, proper food matching, filter protocol, trellis type, when to open, Robert, learning is dead. I believe your POV is spot on sir! I will say this now. Beer, cocktails, ciders, and Whisky have all a commonality…no education required for enjoyment! Cheers to you! You’re right! TMcD
I agree with 92.3% of this
Good words
Thanks Jaime. I apologise for the remaining 7.7%
You know the word terroir is triggering