Thoughtfully posted by John on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.
I just re-read Amy Atwood’s short interview with importer Becky Wasserman. Although short, it is certainly sweet with insight as Becky sheds light on what can go wrong with the natural wine movement. As many wine buyers know, Becky champions sustainable/organic/biodynamic methods of winemaking. She has done so for over thirty years. And she has even gone to a Rudolf Steiner school. The first thought that came to mind when I saw that she formally studied Steiner’s principles is that there must be scores of wine buyers, wine makers and consumers who don’t even know who Rudolf Steiner is. Should all wine drinkers know who Steiner is? Not necessarily, but people who stand behind biodynamic, organic or sustainably made wines without tasting them is a fool. Some of these wines, like their counterparts made in a science labs by flying consulting winemakers, taste like shit.
What bothers me most about the Nouveau Natural wine movement is not that wine drinkers, buyers and consumers haven’t read up on Steiner or other natural wine pioneers, but that they have become too dogmatic extolling the virutes of a topic that they do not fully understand. Natural, sustainable, organic and biodynamic have become buzzwords for wine writers, educators and inspirers throughout the wine world. They have also become the focus of an intense debate on the merits of the Nouveau Natural craze. And while importers such as Wasserman, Kermit Lynch and Joe Dressner have been the quiet champions of the natural wine movement for decades, a few within the wine community have taken on what Wasserman calls a “certain moral superiority.” I agree with her.
I believe in natural wine and sharing what I think is its importance within the wine community. I try to turn as many people away from big brands as possible. Hell, I even wrote that Fred Franzia has no soul (after over a year of searching, the team still hasn’t found it). However, as educators and advocates, we should be leading consumers to responsibly made wines through the wines themselves, not dogmatic proclamations. Becky is correct that the current infatuation with Nouveau Natural movement is a bit of a fad as many who are buying natural wines now will soon turn to the next big thing. A number of the proponents of the Nouveau Natural movement are the same hipsters that believe that the Ramones sit atop the list of best punk rock bands of all time. Like punk rock, naturally made wine is less about pop and more about substance. Let’s let the natural wine fadsters move onto something else and focus our energies on those who want to learn about wine and its sense of place.- John's blog
- Login or register to post comments
