Unlike its culinary counterparts, wine serves many roles other than that of mere gastronomic satiety. It is a reflection of tradition and technology in the cellar, nature and nurture in the vineyard, culture and civilization of the people who make it. At its best it is a culmination of these things.
As a result of this, wine has become a sort of barometer of cultures, illustrating that even though we have a common goal in creating a masterpiece of cuisine, there sometimes is little agreement on how to achieve it and what it should represent.
The most obvious example of this is the idea of “Old World” and “New World” winemaking. As the name implies, “Old World” refers to the customs of viticulture and enology where it was first developed and nurtured to its prominence today – Europe. Here, the defining character of its wines is place. This is primarily due to such a long tradition of grape growing and winemaking in certain parts of Europe, where techniques and varieties evolved with the people and culture. In time, these things became synonymous with its cultivators and geography. Champagne, for example, is not just a sparkling wine, but a specific kind of wine that only comes from one place – you guessed it – the Champagne region of France. This is distinguished from Spumante of Italy, or Cava of Spain, all sparkling wines. In discussing place, many factors are taken into account to describe its wines – grape variety, terroir, defined vineyard and cellar practices. Taken together, something unique is created, of which the grape variety is only one part of. In fact you won’t even see the grape variety indicated on the label.
“New World” winemaking, of which American wine is arguably the pioneer of, takes a different approach. Winemaking is a relatively recent endeavor in the US. On the one hand, we simply don’t have a lengthy relationship with grapevines to have established an evolution of vineyard and cellar practices (in fact, for the most part we have adopted those of Europe). However, we are also unencumbered by restrictive traditions that may otherwise dictate these practices. Without this evolved relationship and the related idea of terroir, the only thing left to define American wines has been the grape variety. And for good reason, without defined vineyard and cellar practices, and an intimate knowledge of place, there was no reason to suspect that differences in same varietal wines were due to place at all. Somewhat ironically, it is now tradition that, for the most part, place is not used to define American wine. As consumers, we may know that there is a difference between Napa Valley Merlot and Washington State Merlot, but for Americans the defining characteristic of that wine is MERLOT and not Napa or Washington State.
In the cellar, one of the biggest differences between Old and New World winemaking is the practice of blending. In the USA, with the significance we place on varietal, one might think that any wine not proudly announcing a varietal name on the label is a generic wine or somehow diluted in regards to its primary varietal. This can be true, when the label on the bottle is reluctant to indicate what’s inside. In other instances, it may represent homage to Old World practices. In actuality, the vast majority of all wines, regardless of origin, are blended. In the USA, the most restrictive labeling rules allow up to 25% of the contents of the bottle to be a varietal (or a combination) of something else other than what is indicated on the label. This artistic license also applies (though to a lesser extent) to vintage date and place of origin. The official rationale is that this allows producers to maximize quality and consistency. With respect to fine wines, this is indeed true. This freedom is a tool in the winemaker’s toolbox, we use it on a case by case basis. Our Cabernet Franc may well indeed be more attractive at 94% varietal and 6% Petit Verdot than had it been 100% varietal (this is the case with the first bottling of our 2006 Cabernet Franc). In other instances, a wine may not benefit at all when blended with another lot of wine (as is the case with our 2006 Glenway Vineyard Chardonnay).
Keep in mind too that that even though a wine label may claim the fruit is 100% varietal, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the wine was made from fruit of the same vineyard. This is important because, not being bound by specific vineyard practices, two vineyards of the same varietal fruit may yield something very different. Add to that the freedom from dictated cellar practices and you can very easily make two very different styles of wine from the same varietal, even though the fruit was sourced from the same AVA (appellation) and in the same vintage. Knowing this, seeking a 100% varietal wine with the hopes that it will be a more “true” representation of the varietal is a bit misguided.
Furthermore, what if we feel that we can produce something truly exceptional given complete artistic license? It happens sometimes that none of the component varietals are present in amounts greater than 75%. In fact it happens a lot, and some of America’s highest quality (and most expensive) wines are just these blends. There are no special label designations, just a proprietary name or a shared named like Meritage. In these cases, the idea here is that the blend is greater than the sum of its parts. The complementary characteristics of Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Saugivnon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot) are so harmonious that Bordeaux producers always blend them. Each producer has its own style of blending, e.g., some are more Merlot based than Cabernet Sauvignon based, but all agree that blending makes a superior wine.
The wine industry is famous (or infamous) for its resistance to change. Wineries may tout their “progressive” attitude towards the environment, but old traditions die hard in the vineyard and cellar. In time, American producers will realize what varieties work well in their specific geography, but the foreseeable future will still see varietal as the definitive characteristic of a wine. Perhaps one day, a Napa Valley red wine will be recognized as a blend of primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, a Washington State red will be one dominated by Merlot, and a Virginia white wine will be principally made of Viognier.
-Jason
Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars
