Contemplating a new tasting format

It is one of the inescapable truths of wine appreciation that Burgundy which is the region stretching from Champagne to the Rhône in northwest France produces the greatest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines in the world. But even those new to wine quickly realise that to leave this region undifferentiated is to encounter these wines in only a very superficial way.

Take, for instance, Chablis, Côte de Beaune and the Mâconnais. These might all be primarily Chardonnay producing areas within Burgundy but after a point failing to see the differences between each of their wines is senseless. Chablis is closer to Champagne than the rest of Burgundy and its archetypal wine is pure fruited with bracing acidity; Côte de Beaune produces wines renowned for their complexity and finesse; and finally the Mâconnais which has a reputation for offering great quality relative to price.

Of course, each of these areas can be scrutinised even closer (something which admittedly presumes a slightly higher level of involvement in the subject of wine as well as the necessary disposable income). The bottom line, however, is that if you aspire to understand Chardonnay truly, then you are compelled to explore Côte de Beaune with seven of Burgundy’s eight white Grands Crus.

France was the first country to set up a system for controlling the origin and quality of its wines, the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine established in 1935, but the realisation of the link between appropriateness of site being the determining factor in attaining the most successful expression of a wine variety goes back centuries.

Among New World wine producing countries, South Africa stands out for having a particularly well established classifications system, the Wine of Origin scheme dating from the early 1970s with it today recognising “geographic units”, “regions”, “districts” and “wards” in order of size from biggest to smallest. The question is: do we take these designations seriously enough?

Currently, the situation that prevails locally is that every major competition from Veritas to the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show has line-ups drawn up by category. Thus when Chardonnay comes to be reviewed, you might potentially have De Wetshof Bateleur from Robertson next to Hamilton Russell Vineyards from Hemel-en-Aarde Valley next to Jordan Nine Yards from Stellenbosch...

There are two quite obvious problems with this format: 1) differences of origin as an issue worthy of consideration in determining wine quality are implicitly ruled irrelevant, which poses the question that if every quality hierarchy that is being generated ignores site then why bother to have a Wine of Origin system in the first place? and 2) line-ups which include all comers are getting unmanageably big with the result that implausible ratings are being generated.

I believe that one way to invest the Wine of Origin scheme with real significance is to dispense with formal tastings by variety or wine style and start doing them by district. One drawback of this is that it does not accommodate the many wines that are multi-regional blends but I’m increasingly inclined to think that there’s something a bit soulless about wines designated as “WO Western Cape”.