Is an optical sorter the auto-tune of red winemaking? Asking for a friend. Otherwise, this morning I was thinking back to the olden days in the 1980s, when I first got interested in wine. The world was a much less complicated place then. Pterodactyls still flew over the vineyards, and primitive man had just started decanting for aeration purposes. Seriously, as far as wine geography goes, countries now mainstream like practically every place in the Southern Hemisphere were either blips or mere suggestions. Sure places like Argentina, Australia, and South African had long had industries, but you couldn’t find the wines in the market place.
Aside from the wine map being smaller and easier to navigate, there were other paradigms. One of them was that practically all the best red wines had to be aged. Blue chip collectibles like top classified growth Bordeaux, Vintage Ports, and lesser-known Italian reds like Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello di Montalcino. Ditto that a smattering of other outliers like Vega Sicilia and certain California Cabernets. The important thing was that it was accepted without questioning these wines needed to be aged, most for at least a decade. Hence one wouldn’t buy them with the expectation of opening a bottle tonight. The same also held true for restaurants, in that you wouldn’t see the latest vintage of a top red on a wine list, which meant the restaurant could afford to actually stock them in the first place.
Speaking of which, cost is arguably the most significant difference between then and now. Back in the day, all the previous wines were relatively affordable. Yes, even first growth Bordeaux was within reach. It was a splurge, but you could still buy it. Then the Bordelais changed everything by deciding to focus on China at the beginning of the century. In the process, they threw the rest of their markets under the bus. To that point, average prices for the First Growth wines rose between 400-500% between the 1999 and 2005 vintages. No surprise, other top regions/appellations followed suit. After all, one has to keep up with the Joneses if more money is involved.
There was also an increase in the consumer base at the time. More people drinking wine, which was good for the industry. The downside was more people not knowing about–or caring about– the maxim of how certain red wines should be aged, and wanting to drink everything sooner.
Climate change helped move things along with more warmer vintages than ever, resulting in wines with riper fruit and higher alcohol levels. Some had softer tannins and could be enjoyed sooner. There was also phylloxera to consider, at least in Northern California. The result being new healthy plant material enabling fruit to stay on the vine longer to get phenolically ripe, and with it higher levels of along grape sugar. The critics, at least certain ones, loved the new style. I dubbed it “Merlot on steroids.”
The new bigger, softer style of reds became the darling of consumers who no longer cared about the aging maxim. This obsession to have every wine drinkable right now gave rise to various inventions whose purpose was to make even the most tannic red softer ready to go right now with the Salisbury Steak special (an exaggeration, I know).
Aerating devices come to mind. Gizmos that operated like aquarium bubblers in that when you poured wine through them, they put air into it, making it feel softer on the palate and supposedly improving the aromatics. Funny thing is that’s what decanting does. And if that’s not enough, there’s always double decanting. Or 30 seconds in a paint shaker.
Then there was the iSommelier. In 2015 I was part of a group of MS’s and MW’s that blind tasted a set of wines using a product developed by a Chinese tech company called the iSommelier. A desktop unit that used a series of three filters to remove dust and contaminants from a wine and then injected 90% pure oxygen into it using a nozzle and what could only be called a “smart decanter.” The amount of pure oxygen put into the wine could be adjusted to simulate the wine having been opened and decanted at various intervals of time, i.e., 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, etc.
Our group tasted several wines blind in twos, each pair showing a wine out of the bottle vs. put through the iSommelier. In short, we unanimously agreed that the wines put through the unit were cleaner, smoother, and had significantly less phenolic bitterness if white, and tannin if red. After the fact, I wrote the following in a blog post:
“The iSommelier more than delivers on what’s promised, but with a high price tag ($500). It excels at removing volatile compounds in any wine but in doing so removes a considerable amount of aromatic complexity. In effect, it’s like Photoshopping wine to make any bottle softer and more drinkable. At some point during the tasting I wrote in my notes the phrase, “Warts and all are part of a wine’s complexity.”
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a series of recent Instagram videos with someone demonstrating special bright blue drink coasters that promise the following: “a patented, lab-tested coaster designed to reduce bite, burn, and harshness, creating a smoother, more balanced. The concept is simple. Put your glass of whisky or wine on the coaster and leave it for 90 seconds, during which the “vibrational signature” is transferred from the coaster through the glass and into the beverage.”
If this sounds like 21st century snake oil, it is. However, the company in question supposedly had their product independently tested by AAR labs, an authority on alcohol beverage testing, which used gas chromatography to analyze whiskey and tequila samples. Results supposedly showed “significant reduction” (up to 40%) in total fusel oils after exposure to the coaster.
No surprise there are both converts and skeptics with the drink coasters. The believers claim a significant change in flavor even in side-by-side tests. However, experts, including quantum physicists, say that low-energy light frequencies cannot logically cause the molecular changes claimed. Some social media reviewers have also called the coasters “cheap plastic discs,” after finding no change in blind tasting tests.
I have to side with the scientists here. I usually do. After all, it’s chemistry we’re talking about. Putting a glass of wine on a plastic coaster with it somehow changing within minutes aside from the usual rate of oxidation is a quaint hallucination at best.
Two other thoughts: First, belief is the most powerful filter of all (why yes, there IS a difference in the wine on the coaster now that you mention it). Second, the pursuit of smooth red wine, even if it’s a current vintage Petite Sirah so tannic it would take oil stains off a driveway, seems eternal for mankind, at least the mass market tribe. So there will always be someone out there willing to put the time and funds into coming up with the next new whizbang to make every wine more drinkable right now, regardless of what it is. After all, in a perfect world smoother will always seem to be better.
I’m on the other side of the fence. I don’t want a smooth red wine unless the bottle in question is supposed to be just that. If I do come across a red wine I describe as “smooth,” it’s the result of good viticulture and winemaking combined. The former because of optimally ripened fruit and the latter because of good tannin management—which also starts in the vineyard.
Beyond that, I want imperfection in my wines—if it’s there for a reason. I’m not surprised by VA in Gran Reserva Rioja or Brett in a Northern Rhône Syrah. I fully expect young Barolo or Barbaresco to be like a Rottweiler in the bottle, or at the very least bone dry, astringent, and acidic. These are grown up drinks we’re talking about and not Hello Kitty. It goes without saying that all the previous wines need to be cellared for a period of time to give them a chance to develop. If I see a young vintage of a tannic red on a list, it’s the last thing I would order. Unless I‘m having live game for dinner.
In the end, give me what the winemaker intended, and what the vintage gave her/him in the vineyard. With red wines, let me see how they did with everything from the fermentation regime to tannin additions to fining trials to how much the wine was filtered. All skills of the winemaker and not some aerator, magic decanter, or plastic coaster. Give me warts and all in the wine. Or move on.