We face a varietal of problems.
January 20th, 2009
George W. Bush
Today is a big day for our country. A President disliked (even despised) by many is passing control of the helm to one in whom some have placed unrealistic, messiah-like expectations. Nevertheless, the country, as a whole, seems hungry for a new direction and looks to brighter days ahead.
If the past eight years have given political pundits numerous “Bushisms” to mock and ruminate over (and provided fertile fodder for The Global Language Monitor), they have also seen the rise to prominence of some “winoisms”. The latter are a group of words and concepts which have found their way into common parlance despite the fact that they are simply incorrect usage of terminology.
I’m not thinking of common spelling gaffes like “current” instead of “currant” and “palette” in place of “palate”. The use of words like “varietal” in place of “variety” and “palate” in place of “personal preference” are habits of American wine culture and some wine writers and bloggers which are as pernicious as they are pervasive. These seem to speak to a disregard or disdain for a greater depth of understanding of the subject matter. Adherence to a flashcard understanding of wine makes for limited understanding and a subsequently stunted growth of our country’s wine culture.
Yes, there are other problems with our wine culture and wine industry. There are a core group of misguided and misinformed beliefs about wine which are symptomatic of a limited understanding of wine. There are also some problems with availability and distribution of wine which compromise a producer’s commercial reach and consumer choices. There are even issues of climate change, oversupply and the effect of the current economic turmoil on the wine industry. But, while some might argue otherwise, I believe that the resolution of the latter four issues will not make even a fraction of the contribution to the collective good of the culture (which, in essence, rests with wine lovers and consumers) that education of the consumer can make.
I have commented on the seeming perils to the wine industry inherent in educating the wine consumer base (here and here). However cynical the ideas in those two posts may seem, I believe them to be true. For my part, I truly hope to see anti-intellectualism stripped away from our wine culture. I just hope that wine producers will be prepared for it. It will be a gradual process and nobody will bother to put them on notice.
For those who think that I have a pedantic fixation on semantics and terminology, I offer the counterargument that language frames our thought processes. What we say and how we say it reveals what we know and how we think. In some circles, those things are also thought to indicate the polish on one’s character.
Think what you may about that last concept, but the devil really does reside in the details. Greatness and excellence in any pursuit are not achieved in giant leaps accompanied by resonant thunderclaps. Rather, they are gradual processes: the application of philosophy and a set of standards practiced every day in the forging of a legacy in little increments.
I come from a part of the world where a plumber may speak three languages besides their native tongue (one of those languages may even be Latin!). There, average high school grads have more exposure to calculus, organic chemistry and physics than most US college grads (not to mention being expected to get their minds around over 1,000 years of national history and a pretty complex language). So, I tend to think that a wine enthusiast (who, statistically, is likely to be more educated than the average bear) can get some basic terminology and concepts under their skull cap.
There is a culture of “good enough” in the USA. It works for selling sweaters, painting houses and building cars. It seems to be applied to other aspects of our society at times: I see it at various levels of the education system. It seems to have sufficed for our government for some time now. It also seems to be a core driving force in the production and selling a lot of marginally serviceable wine. If American wine is to be viewed as a top global contender, however, this attitude will have to be put out to pasture at all levels of our country’s wine culture.
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February 11th, 2009 at 12:15 am
This is an extremely tardy response to the above topic, but since I am passionate about it, I’ll write it anyway. Too long have we allowed “just good enough” to be the standard to which teachers, students, congressmen/women, pharamacists, grocers, repairmen(of any ilk), and yes, even some grape farmers & vintners “aspire” to. (Never end a sentence with a preposition).
When I was a kid, back in the early ’50′s, there was only one mantra: “be the best you can be”. Sounds corny, and yes, the marines use it, but back then, my teachers tried their best. Students actually wanted to excel; congressmen actually legislated, and represented their constituents to the best of their abilities. Pharmacists would never get a prescription wrong, grocers knew their customers by name, and offered credit. Repairmen actually repaired…and did it right, too, plus they did it with a smile. Farmers worked the earth, did it with skill, and were proud of their achievements. Vintners usually were old school, and had been making wine for generations, by the book, and without cutting corners.
So what happened? Where did we go off the rails? A difficult question with multiple answers, and it probably happened “poco a poco”…little by little. Teachers unionized and became more interested in what was in it for them rather than how well they could teach. Parents frequently were both working, and their child became a “latch key kid”, with resultant less time and guidance for kids who “sloughed off” at home while being unattended. Congressmen poorly represented their constituents back home, and seemingly tried to steal everything that wasn’t bolted down. Pharmacies became megapolies, and pharmacists became 8 to 5ers. Grocers were bought out, then bought out again, and then yet again. There was no more personal touch, no “how are yous, nor how are the kids?” There was no more pride of teaching, no pride of doing, no pride of ownership, no pride of creating.
Yes, there were the uncommon Bill Gates types, the brainy Einstein types, the congressmen who left their jobs, spent three consecutive productive terms in congress, and then returned home to the job they had left behind…citizen statesmen, in the true George Washington sense, if you will. There were still some old school pharmacists who left you their home phone number in case of problems with your drugs. Despite the Safeways, Krogers, and Albertsons, there still remained the farmers who sold at Farmer’s Market, still took pride in their produce. Sure, there were huge agricultural monopolies, but still there were farmers, including grape farmers, who continued their quest to produce the ” best grape”. And altho many of the wineries melded into one, many still remained solo, and strove to produce the “best wine”.
The problem, obviously, was the huge majority who didn’t strive for the best, or to be the best, and slowly, sadly, became satisfied with “just good enough”. We went in one generation, maybe two, from everyone wanting to be the “best we could be”, to just a small fraction, maybe 10% or so, being satisfied with “just good enough”. Average middle America today wouldn’t recognize their counterparts two generations back. The average American today is a far cry from the citizen other countries strive to imitate. Those of us who continue to strive for perfection are many…but not the majority. Average Americans today continue to be good hearted…but do not necessarily desire, nor strive to be the best.
Today, some grape farmers are content to produce 8 -10 Tons/ acre. Others “get it” and choose to produce quality over quantity, 4-6 Tons/ acre, 3 Tons/acre, or 1-2 Tons/acre. Our Cerro Prieto Vineyard, falls into the latter category, and from that is made the best wine…our best effort. I believe that altho some vintners still shlock out wines from high yields/acre, a large number of growers and vintners strive to produce lower yielding, higher quality grapes…hence, the best wines. In the near term, probably more and more private growers will subscribe to the “lower yield is better” theory of producing the best grapes to make the best wine. Private vintners will continue to try to produce the best wine. The problem today is, a large proportion of society is content with “just good enough”. Many of us continue to be the best, strive for the best, produce the best. Problem is, we are now a minority, and a small minority at that.
Fewer and fewer Americans now make up the productive America. Somehow, someway , that has to be reversed, or we are going to become a second class country, and slowly fall by the wayside. Fewer and fewer cannot be asked to continue to do more and more. In medicine, my first love, this is an overpowering, heartbreaking truth. It would be refreshing to see some segments of society reverse this slide, and there is no reason grape growers and vintners cannot lead by example. It would be step in the right direction. It would be a start.