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Siena and Beyond: Conclusion
My recent trip to Tuscany not only led to three extensively updated Chianti
profiles, but also updates and new additions for the other classic wine regions
of northern Italy, namely Barolo and Amarone. As well as an account of
Bisol, the first profile of a Prosecco estate on The
Winedoctor. These latter wines, for the purpose of transparency, were tasted in
London (a small town in the south of England that has nothing to do with Siena
whatsoever), usually in the company of the winemaker.
Several years ago I worked my way through a year of tastings designed to augment my knowledge and increase my familiarity with the classic Italian wine styles, much as I am doing now with my Reds of the Loire and Champagne Trail features. What I realised at the time was that I only scratched the surface of Italian wine, not really getting to grips with any of the regions; there was much more to know about Barolo, for instance, before I would even have dared to consider myself suitably acquainted with the region. Visiting the place might be a start, but even then, what of the other nearby regions? What names should we look out for in Barbaresco, Langhe or Monferrato? And who makes the best Barbera d'Alba and Barbera d'Asti? And what of Dolcetto? And this is without even leaving Piedmont!
Once again, with my recent tastings, I am reminded of the paucity of my knowledge concerning some of these regions; not so much Chianti (specifically Chianti Classico I suppose, so even here I am limiting my scope), of which I think I have a decent grasp. Having visited the region more than once, the rolling topography seems familiar, I have a basic understanding of the terroir (forgive me for the introduction of this French word into a discussion of Italian wine), have a sense of who are the top producers, and have followed developments of note over the past decade - such as replanting with clones selected by the Chianti Classico 2000 project, and the merging of the two main grower's associations to form a single Consorzio for the region.
Contrast this with Barolo and Amarone, regions with which I am less familiar. I
have met some winemakers, such as the recently encountered Walter Fissore,
Luca Currado and Riccardo
Tedeschi, but this hardly engenders me with a great depth of knowledge of
their wines, or the region as a whole. I accept this. Long gone are the days
when it was feasible to have a truly detailed knowledge of all the world's wine
regions if, indeed, it were ever really feasible at all. If nothing else, the
emergence of California, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the South
American countries as significant players on the world wine market has put paid
to any such possibility. Equally, however, the depth of knowledge of many
consumers is now much more apparent than it has ever been before, as is
demonstrated by a quick scan of current discussions on the internet's various
discussion groups. Discourses highlighting the downside of Spain's recent
quality revolution, valuable opinion on the latest Bordeaux vintage from
amateurs visiting during the en primeur season (a new but surprisingly
common occurrence this year), the joy of aged Muscadet and scathing,
no-holds-barred opinions of
wine critics with a national column all serve to illustrate the depth of sometimes very esoteric
knowledge that exists. There is an evident willingness to express that knowledge, and to
readily take established wine writers to task over their opinions, not always
constructively, although it is usually entertaining.
All this is for the good - the internet is now established as the prime resource for wine information, as Parker opined in 2005, although he predicted it would take a little longer. As a consequence, It does mean that wine writers had better have the courage of their convictions before they put pen to paper, or rather fingers to keyboard. I hope Jane MacQuitty felt suitably courageous when she spouted her opinion on the Bordeaux 2005 vintage recently, because it has come in for what may be some well-deserved criticism. Personally I welcome the increasingly savvy modern consumer, and stand ready for any criticism of what I write in this site. It won't, however, restrict me to only writing about those regions where my knowledge is rock-solid - namely the Loire, Bordeaux, perhaps some other regions of France, and perhaps the Mosel. To do so would be to lessen the worth of this website as a resource, as I think my opinions outside of these regions are still valid (as are the opinions of many others). It would also curtail greatly the pleasure I find in drinking wines from Piedmont, Veneto, Rioja, Sicily, the Pfalz, Austria and other regions where my knowledge is less, and would also inhibit me from presenting series like A Trip to Siena, where this discourse began. And so, very soon, I move onto another region I know only reasonably well; Roussillon. (22/4/06)
Siena and Beyond: a trip to Siena leads to some new Italian profiles:
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