My wine creed

“I look for that – I want the volatile for the structure,” said the producer. “The wines are very Italian for me in that aspect.”

I was baffled. The wine in front of me was undrinkable. Volatile to the extreme and with brett, to boot. The confession that this was done at least in part deliberately was deeply confusing. This Bordelais winemaker had proudly told me just a few minutes before how he used absolutely zero sulphur in his winery – and, boy, did it show. These weren’t cheap wines. And they were faulty.

Contrast this with another tasting, this time top Napa wines – commanding the prices you’d expect of the region. They were well-made and – by Napa standards – balanced. But they were almost as undrinkable as the aforementioned bottles. Rich and dense, they would appeal to many – but half a glass was too much for me. The winemaker himself proudly said how he only drank white wine these days: if these reds were the alternative, you can see why.

I was left thinking about my place in amongst these extremes. I often find myself caught between two churches. In the world of fine wine, people tend to think I’m a naturalista, while anyone in the natural wine circuit would outlaw me for my classical tastes.

So here’s where I really stand.

I love wine. I love the people. The stories. The vineyards. The gnarling curves of the vines. The intricacies of farming such an extraordinary plant. The one-shot, make-it-or-break-it cycle of vintages. The susceptibility to Mother Nature. The vulnerability. The geekery. The expertise. The madness of these people who spend hours trying to produce such a purposeless commodity. I love the smells of a winery. The quiet of a cellar. I love the tools. Cool cement. The grain of fine oak. The sheen of stainless steel. I love trying to grasp what people are doing – and why. I love tasting interesting things. New vineyards, grapes, regions.

I look for freshness, balance, aromatic interest. I want something moreish, something I want more of. Yes, because it’s good, but not just because it’s good: because I want to wrap my mind, nose and tongue around it – watch it shift and shimmer, showing off everything it’s got. In my experience, that’s a hell of a lot harder to do if you’re wedded to avoiding sulphur. It’s not impossible, but the attention and skill required is extraordinary. If you’re driven by dogma, you may ignore what a wine needs to deliver – to be shipped around the world and still taste great, or what is needed to make a wine that can age.

No matter how it’s made, all I really want is something good to drink: my doctrine is all about deliciousness.