Scandal!
When scandal hits the world of politics, resignations are called for, private details are released on the evening news and tension is built up until the money shot: the politician holding a press conference and eating humble pie. But when scandal hits the wine world, things take shape a bit differently, as we're seeing again right now. Back in March, Italian investigators implicated certain wine makers of not making their brunello di Montalcino wines from 100% sangiovese grapes. Not quite a hooker-grade fiasco, it's true. This is what the wine world gets for scandal, and it's a big enough deal that the U.S. government is taking action. Brunello di Montalcino wines are some of the highest priced wines on the market — many carry price tags in the hundreds of dollars — with a large chunk of sales coming from restaurants. Much of that high price is based on reputation, which in the case of brunello and most European wines, is built upon the strict wine laws that govern wine making. Under such laws, certain grapes and wine making methods must be used in order to receive higher and higher classifications and therefore command higher prices.Now when word started to spread about this scandal, some of us wine professionals showed mock indignation and plenty of eye-rolling: "You say Italians have been bending the rules? You say some wine laws haven't been followed to the letter? Nooooooooo." It's true that at first this 'scandal' doesn't seem very important, but it does give us an interesting view of the changing status of the wine industry right now.
By trying to make brunello wines more approachable — and when "more approachable" means adding bigger, bolder varietals like cabernet, merlot and syrah — we get a good example of the pressures put upon old-world wine makers. With an influx of new wine drinkers used to new-world wines, even those wine makers that have been making good wine for decades see that there is a chunk of the market from which they are missing out. This is exactly why many old-world wine makers have begun to put a wine's grape varietals on the label. So interestingly enough, one of the prominent new-world countries, the U.S. of A., is in their own way enforcing the standards of the old-world by not restricting the brunello allowed in to the country.
The wine industry is definitely in a time of change and although all of these laws will probably stay as they are for now, this is how the wine industry inches along. Some wine makers stubbornly and proudly sticking to traditional methods and others boldly and stupidly trying new things very quickly. There will always be some reason for scandal especially in times of change, though I doubt, unfortunately, that we'll ever see Robert Parker wearing a red, white and blue tie looking ashamed and penitent because of the poor judgment he's exhibited at his job.
Labels: american, french, italian, ny times, wine culture
