The Battle for Wine and Love Or...

Alice Feiring certainly speaks her mind. She has a passion for a certain type of wine, what she calls "authentic" wines, and is a fervent opponent of homogenized wines. Alice wants wines that are indicative of terroir, of place. She wants wines with their own unique character.

It is difficult to refute that passion and I do not want to even try.

The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization is a new book by Alice Feiring. It is small hardcover, of 271 pages, and is broken down into nine chapters. I see it as part biography and part essay.

Alice begins making it very clear her position. She is strongly opposed to modern wines that have been enhanced by technology and chemistry to conform to some generic standard, a standard allegedly favored by Robert Parker. Big jammy, oaky, fruit bombs. Parker is set up as her nemesis because of the significant effect he has had on the wine world, as many wine makers seek to create wines that he will award high scores.

"This is my journey into the wine world's version of David and Goliath. At stake is the soul of wine. This is giant corporation vs. independent winemaker. This is international and homogenous vs. local and varied. This is manipulated and technical wine vs. natural and artisanal. This is the world that courts Parker vs. those who heed their own calling. If the "new technology" made a better wine, I'd say great. But for the most part, wine is being reduced to the common denominator, and this is sacrilegious." (p.4)

After the introduction, Alice begins with a bit of biography, of her first experiences with wine. Even when she was a relative novice, she did not agree with some of Parker's characterizations of certain wines. As she began her own writing career, she continued not to be swayed by Parker, seeing point systems for wines as being useless. As the 1990s came, she began to see less and less wines that reflected a sense of terroir. Wines seemed to be more homogenized, more made to fit Parker's preferences. She discusses numerous ways that winemakers can manipulate the wine, from yeasts to longer hangtime.

Alice desires "authentic" wines and she characterizes such wines as including the following:
Healthy farming practices
Hand picking
No extended cold maceration
No added yeasts or bacteria
No added enzymes
No flavors from oak or toast
No additives that shape flavor or texture
No processes that use machines to alter alcohol level, flavor, or texture or that promote premature aging (p.40)

A number of the following chapters then document Alice's travels to several different wine regions, from the Rhone to Rioja, where she seeks out authentic wines. She mentions several wineries which meet with her approval, which make such authentic wines. And she also mentions several wineries that make the wines she dislikes. It is interesting to read of her conversations with a number of different wine makers.

This all leads to c ouple conversations she has with Robert Parker himself. In general, her telling of the conversations is relatively balanced, though maybe a tiny bit biased to her position. And probably the same type of bias that most writers would have in a similar situation. She does quote Parker numerous times, allowing him to state his positions on a number of topics. In the end, she sees the two of them as having radically different viewpoints.

"As a critic Parker focuses on wine tasting and scoring. His criteria, it seems, are power, concentration, and jam. He quantifies. As a writer, I focus on the way wine is made and why the wines I like taste the way they do. I focus on the story. I qualify." (p.215-216)

In Parker's favor, she does mention how he has has hired others to review different wine regions for the Wine Advocate. And these individuals do not all have palates that Alice feels agree with Parker. Some of them are trumpeting wines that Alice thinks deserve praise.

I do admit that I enjoy some wines that Alice would not. For example, I love the wines of Fernando Remiriz de Ganuza and they are not mentioned positively in her book. Yet I also enjoy the wines of Lopez de Heredia, which does also enjoys. I have a diverse palate, enjoying many different types of wines. I certainly agree with Alice though that I would not like to have all wines tasting the same. I crave diversity, one of the reasons I enjoy trying wines made from unusual grapes or from less well known countries. I do enjoy and support a number of small, artisanal producers.

I don't blame Robert Parker for what has occurred in the wine industry. He did not force anyone to adopt his scoring system. He did not force wine producers to change their wines. It was the public, the consumers, who made Parker so powerful. It is those people who live and die by high scoring wines. If the public ignored the scores, then the power of Parker would be gone. But Parker is an easier target than blaming the general public.

Where I do differ from Alice is on her stance toward biodynamics. Alice is an advocate for biodynamics, primariloy because she thinks wines made in that manner taste better. Though she sees no need for scientific proof on that issue. She takes it as a given, based on her own tastings, that such wines taste better. She also claims biodynamics is drawn on the "wisdom of the ancients."

I am of the sort that wants proof of the efficacy of biodynamics. I have previously posted about my skepticism toward Rudolf Steiner and biodynamics. Different wine makers follow biodynamics to different degrees. Does that mean those who do not follow biodynamics to the letter do not make as good wine as those who do? Are all biodynamic wines better than non-biodynamic wines? And how do we know whether a wine is good because of biodynamics, or despite of it?

And if biodynamics makes the best wines, then should not Alice be trumpeting only biodynamic agriculture? Should she not be embracing all authentic wines, but only the biodynamic ones? And if she is not advocating biodynamics for all winemakers, then why not?

Overall, I enjoyed Alice's book and would recommend it to other wine lovers. She generally has a good, easy to read style, though there is a touch of "Sex and the City" style in it as well. Much of what she has to say is right on target. And it may make you think more about the type of wines you drink. She has not saved the world but she certainly is a revolutionary in the forefront.