Are Pinots Getting Too Big?

Eric Asimov, wine writer at the New York Times, recently wrote about the "revolution" occurring in the increasing lightness of California Pinot Noir. Steve Heimoff, columnist for Wine Enthusiast magazine, responded, in his blog, to Asimov's assertion.

Taken together these two viewpoints underscore a fundamental issue for me. The only truth in wine is that which is circumscribed by your vineyards and fruit coupled with the winemaker's overriding sensibility that takes those raw products and makes the most authentic wine out of them.

Asimov is talking about a STYLE of wine for which he has a PREFERENCE. There is no right and no wrong to this. The style that he prefers (or that Parker or the Spectator prefers) is not intrinsically better than the fatter style of wine that he doesn't.

The winemaker really only has a responsibility to himself. I can't truly know what the "market" wants especially when I release a new wine. I can only promise that the wine I am producing is as true to the vineyard and to the grape as it can be and, more importantly, that it is true to my winemaking philosophy.

Styles of wine change. Critics gain a pre-eminence which can shape the way wines are produced. That pre-eminence will eventually cease to be, and the next major critic may like a different style of wine. Making wine to suit the perceived palate of the critic is a fool's errand. It's philosophically dishonest and boring...and there's every likelihood that the wine style and the critic won't arrive at the same place at the same time.

There is room in the wine world for any number of wine styles and wine varieties. We, the consuming public, will vote with our palates and our pocketbooks, some styles and grapes will be steamrolled under and serve as the fertilizer for the next "revolution."

In the end, we should all worry less, explore a lot, and drink more good wine.