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| Visions & Revisions |
Viniculture Clash
01/01/2006
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As far as washing the glasses, I would not recommend using anything
but extremely hot water, as detergents tend to either etch into the glass or
leave a residue. I do, however, handwash the better glassware with liquid
detergent to remove lipstick. It seems that stuff is stronger than Super Glue
lately. Drying the glass with a napkin is also a bad idea; the cloth or paper
will have chemicals on it as well. We dry and polish glasses with linen; it does
not leave spots or lint.
 | | SEVERION BARZAN (Photograph by Thomas Hart Shelby.) |
What is the role of wine gurus, and how do you perceive their impact on the
market and on wine drinkers’ tastes?
Barzan: They have a very important impact on the market for sure, but it’s
not the only impact. Robert Parker is recognized around the world as a great
professional. He knows what he’s doing. But he’s not God; he doesn’t know
everything.
People who automatically follow any wine guru’s recommendations
aren’t real wine lovers. Real wine lovers can contest others’ opinions. They
agree; they disagree. The good wine is the one you like more.
MacDonald: Now
it seems that most people buy whatever is rated above a certain score. This is
sad; it really shows a lack of self-esteem on the part of the buyer or perhaps
it is another way to deflect blame or take praise based upon the outcome of
their own personal tasting. The gurus are also seemingly taste makers—wineries
attempt to make wines to please the all-powerful critics so that they can sell
their wine more easily.
A recent Wall Street Journal column extolled the
virtues of certain wines from Thailand; the grapes are grown on islets and
harvested by boat. Even wines from Michigan boast of their unique terroir. How
important is locality? Is it possible to find great wines from all over the
world today?
Barzan: You can make wine all over the world, but it all depends on what you
want from wine. It’s not possible to get great wine just anywhere—not where the
sunshine is very strong, for example. If sunshine were the key, Africa would
make the best wine in the world.
What you need for a great wine is a
fantastic terroir and the right climate. The varieties of grapes change the
terroirs. Take a corvine grape from my area of Italy. Plant this variety in
Oregon and you’ll have grapes, you’ll make a wine, but it will never be an
Amarone like here.
It’s easy to say that Italy and France make the best wine
in the world. In these countries, we have the culture and the tradition of the
area that permits us to make a certain wine. I drink wines from all over the
world —I’m very curious—and I like many of them. New world wines from Australia,
America, South Africa, etc., are free; they don’t have any traditions. It would
be impossible in Italy to blend a santa vasae and a biolo, or a nebbiolo and a
sangiovese. They are different. But the new world can do it, and sometimes it
makes for good wine. They are good wines, but they are not what they want to be,
not their pure selves.
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