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tech vs terroir

From the New York Times:

McCloskey could say this because his company, Enologix, takes grape samples from clients and extracts the juice to measure some of its chemical compounds. Then, using software developed by McCloskey, Enologix compares the chemistry of the projected wines with that of a benchmark example. The outcome is a score on a 100-point scale, analogous — not coincidentally — to those employed by critics like Robert Parker of The Wine Advocate and James Laube of Wine Spectator. McCloskey boasted that his ”thinking is in tune with Parker, Laube and Helen Turley” — the latter a California winemaker notorious for favoring big, fruity, intense wines.

Not everyone shares this taste, however. Many oenophiles argue that — owing especially to the influence of Parker, who has been called the planet’s most powerful critic of any kind, in any field — wines all over the world have become more and more homogenous. The jammy, oaky international style is largely free of the tannins that mellow and lend flavor as a wine ages but can make it taste bitter or astringent when young. Yet these wines often lack a sense of terroir, or regional distinctiveness, celebrated by so many wine aficionados. Parker’s most lamented impact is his popularization of the 100-point scale that is now employed by most wine magazines. The so-called Score has been described as America’s main contribution to the wine business: a democratic, no-nonsense way of jettisoning the elitist jargon that veils quality from the consumer. It is also maligned for turning wine buyers into mindless puppets and vintners into sycophants seeking the favor of King Parker and King Laube.

But Leo McCloskey is unfazed. ”The wine world is so big today that without ratings it would be chaos,” he says. ”The consumer doesn’t need to know about terroir. He just wants to know whether a wine is worth $28 or whatever he’s paying for it.”

I agree with the last sentence in particular.

One Comment, Comment or Ping

  1. Rob

    Just a thought but doesn’t that last sentence conflict with the whole “marketing is storytelling” idea?

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