Many people ask me: "What's your favorite wine?" My answer: I don't really have one. I love all kinds of wine and each one has its own special moment. It's almost like choosing a favorite child. You can't. They are all unique and you can't compare them. I love Burgundy and also Rioja, I dig wines from Slovenia and the Wachau in Austria - but not all of them, of course. It depends on the producer and their practices. I like well-made wines that express their terroir. To learn this, I had to taste a lot. Usually, these wines are made by hand, not in a huge winery, but that's not always the case. I don't have any rules. So what makes a good wine? Our tastes are subjective. What I like may not be to your liking. However, there are important qualities that are a common thread for the best wines. Today, we're going to explore them.
Number one – High quality grapes. You can make a bad wine from good grapes, but you will never make a good wine from bad grapes. This is the main basis of wine. Its raw material has to be of good quality and in good health or the final product will need adjustments in the winery. Such wines are never the same as those made in the vineyard. In fact, many wines that taste too oaky or are too acidic, or have little acidity, are for this reason. They were not well cared for in the vineyard and mistakes are covered up with strong oak flavors or adjustments that only contribute to a low quality final product. Like painting, wine is an art. Materials matter. A Michelangelo in marble is not the same as one in clay. David in Playdough would not have been possible…or maybe it would have been, but the same as a David in marble? No. In terms of wine, this means that the winemaker and the viticulturist work together to have the best possible fruit. In many cases, they do not use chemicals that harm the soil or the plant. Yes, that means they must take care of the vineyard with organic/sustainable treatments so that the vines are healthy and the type of yeast that grows on the skin of the grape is the desirable type. This is where special care really must be taken as there are several types of indigenous yeast can harm the wine. Once in the winery, it is very difficult to eradicate them. They reproduce in hoses, pumps, tools and tanks. In a vineyard that is not healthy, multiple types of these harmful yeasts can be found.
It's not just a question of indigenous yeasts though. Soil pH is an important factor for the vine to properly absorb nutrients from the subsoil. Vigor is another important element to control, since a vine with too much vigor in the vegetal part can impart herbal notes in the wine. It is important that the sugar produced during photosynthesis is divided between the foliage (the vegetal part) and the fruit, but mostly to the fruit. That's why great wines often come from poor soils where challenges strengthen the fruits of their labor.
Two – A good wine always represents its terroir. That is its identity. We use the word “typicity” to describe that a wine correctly expresses where it is from. Not only are the minerals important, terroir has to do with the type of microclimate as well. There is not much to debate here. It is vital that the vineyard is the right microclimate. Just like coffee does not grow well in Canada, if you plant Cabernet Sauvignon in a cool region, things won't go very well for the vineyard and it's highly likely the wine wil suffer as a result. It is also not a very good idea to plant Chardonnay in Cadiz. It is too hot. The fruit will over-ripen, lose its acidity and it won't have its classic elegance. You have to learn the basics of wine like where the main grapes are from to begin to understand a wine list. And even the most knowledgeable wine experts do not know everything. You have to trust your supplier. In wines, as in everything, there are anomalies of course, but they are few and if your supplier is good, he will know when these anomalies are good and when they are not.
Three - A good wine has to be balanced. This balance comes from the practices in the vineyard. The wine should demonstrate harmony between fruit, acidity, tannin, and alcohol and should linger in the mouth. The longer the flavors linger in the mouth after you swallow it, the better. A wine that is not very good, complex, or doesn't have much acidity, will quickly fall apart in your mouth. When you taste the wine at a restaurant, winery or store, this is what you're looking for.
We're going to go back to the previous point about microclimates and terroir because this is a critical part of how balance is attained. A wine can be very strong in alcohol because it comes from a hot climate. But the wine should not burn your mouth with its alcohol. We call these wines "hot" in wine-speak. It's natural that a vineyard from a hot region will produce wines with a high alcohol content. Remember that fermented fructose is the product of photosynthesis. More sun/more heat = more sugar and thus more alcohol. It's the job of the viticulturist to balance the vineyards with the proper pruning and training system so that the sugar doesn't go too much to the fruit or too much to the vegetal part. If the alcohol is strong, but the phenolics (color, aroma, tannins, etc.) develop correctly, the wine can be high in alcohol but not "hot" because, you guessed it, it's balanced. On the other hand, if it's a low alcohol wine and it's "hot", it's not a balanced wine either. It's the same for acidity, tannins, and fruit - it comes first from practices in the vineyard and later in the winery.
1996 Blanco, Lopez de Heredia, Rioja . One of the few wineries that continue the tradition of white wines aged for almost 20 years before being released to the market. Source: https://www.lopezdeheredia.com/english/vinos/tondoniaGRB.html
Four - If you're going to drink a wine that has spent a long time in the cellar, you have to know about vintages. This is also true for a wine that hasn't spent a long time in the cellar, but for those that age for a long time in the bottle, it's even more important. It's important to learn about the producer and the vintages of the Denomination of Origin where the wine is from. Vintages are a crucial part of knowing what a great wine is.
Five - What the winemaker does is very important. He can enhance or destroy what comes in from the vineyard. His decisions obviously affect the final quality of the wine. The first of which is yeast. Do they use indigenous yeast or buy it from a lab? Yeast is an important part of the flavor profile and yeasts created in a lab often have specific flavors though some are neutral. Another thing to consider is what type of tank is used for fermentation and the subsequent aging? During fermentation, yeast converts sugar into alcohol and this generates heat. Fermentation temperature must be controlled to maintain floral and fruity notes. Warmer and faster fermentations cause earthy and/or burnt aromas. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if there is no way to control it with a modern tank, the construction and location of the cellar are important elements to mitigate these factors. Then there are the decisions to fine and filter which can over-sterilize the wine and remove important flavors if too much is done, or leave the product microbiologically unstable if not enough is done. So every decision the winemaker makes results in what you are enjoying in your glass. Minimal intervention usually means that the vineyard is the focus and no chemicals or additives are used in the vineyard and this is almost always better.
It's not possible to know what practices are in the vineyard or in the winery when we see a bottle on the wine list. In a store there is more opportunity to see the information on the label, but this is also no guarantee of whether the wine will be good or not. Therefore, it is important to know your supplier. If you like the wine, look on the back label to see who the importer/distributor is and look for more products from them. Eventually, you will find suppliers who are “in line” with your palate. To learn what you like, which will change over time, it's a matter of tasting a lot, going to tastings, being brave and trying new things that interest you, reading what wine writers publish. Now, this is extremely important - there are writers who are better than others. There are magazines that are better than others in their selection and in their policies. You have to find out what you like best and read more of that, and throw in some other authors and publications. But I would not take them as the final word either. They are not always objective. Most importantly, you have to lose the fear of exploring, lose the fear of not knowing, of what is called "imposter syndrome." We all know nothing at all about something until we discover it. And that is nothing to be ashamed of, on the contrary. We have to live surprised and surprising ourselves, celebrating that there is always so much to discover. Experiment more. Try more. Drink more. It's as simple as that!
In Vino Veritas!
