Everybody’s trying to get into the act…

Ninty-some percent of the lands under vine are found, not surprisingly, in vitis vinifera’s traditional homelands that range from certain pockets in the near east out as far as Portugal. As I said, no surprise - the vine has had thousands upon thousands of years to populate this part of the world.

And only until about 400 years ago, this was the ONLY place one could have found the vine being cultivated. But with the rise of the age of European colonialism, these old time wine cultures, in an attempt to re-create each nation’s respective wine cultures in their new lands (surprising to many, South Africa was the first place in the “New World” in which the vine was extensively cultivated!), “New World” wine was born: The aforementioned South Africa, the South American countries, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, etc. And before the first root was sunken into the earth in any of these places, none of them had any more connection with the vine than Timbuktu’s DPW now has with snow ploughs, apart from just one thing: CLIMATE. All of the viticultural areas in the “old” New World were climatically similar if not nearly identical with climate zone from which the vine originated. Certainly there are some differences, and I guess that it could be said that if one looks at the extremes, some fairly significant ones to be sure, but at the end of the day, there have always been more similarities than differences.

But now the world is witnessing the birth of “New New World” wines, and like James Brown said “…comin’ from some funny places…” too. The new New World wines that are spilling onto the scene are emanating from places like Brazil, Virginia, China, India, and even Thailand! So I guess that the obvious question is “why”? Well, the first reason is now they can. As both vineyard and cellar technologies make advances in clonal selection, soil and pest management, engineered yeasts, temperature controls, etc., etc., regions that for reasons of climate and soil that had always been off limits for vine growers have been put within reach for local and adventuresome farmers. With contemporary technology, India is no longer impossibly hot, and Thailand is too humid no more…

The main IMPETUS however for the creation of these “New New World” wines, if there can be said to be just ONE, is at least for my mind, seated in the attempt to generate status and prestige. Like it or not, wine is a powerful symbol worldwide for affluence, sophistication, and education. Wine-producing countries are also often considered to be among the world’s most respected and sophisticated, and it is thought that developing a wine culture can be a shortcut to such global prestige, and this may be right, but this path is clearly fraught with dangers…If these wine newbies can begin, after of course the requisite start-up difficulties that any new winery faces, to produce decent or better wines, there is an equally decent chance that at least among the local gentry, that the winery will survive if for no other reason than from local pride. But, if these wineries that are, let’s face it, fighting mother nature, cannot produce a product that is worthy of export, they will survive as little more than local curiosities, or worse, might slowly slide down the slope of diminishing returns into eventual oblivion. Running a successful winery in California or Argentina or New Zealand is hard enough without the added difficulties of a less-than-cooperative terroir, and a local culture that has little to no historical interest in anything as esoteric and expensive as wine…

So what is the future for Chinese wine, for example? Right now, it’s hard to say. The initial successes have been there for some producers in these non-traditional wine growing areas, but the question remains whether this is just a fad or a curiosity for the local markets, or if indeed these upstart producers are truly on the threshold of making wine a fully GLOBAL phenomenon. Can these folks produce a product that is either priced properly and/or offers enough unique characteristics to cut a sustainable channel into the market? If so, they’ve got a chance, but for now, if I were betting on it, I’d wager that this is one sun-drenched slope that might be just a bit too steep for most growers in Maharastra or Chiang Rai to climb…we shall see…

TOM CIOCCO