Take a Walk on the Wild Side
The much italicized word terroir is thrown around a lot when trying to convince customers that a perfectly pleasant, but non-descript vinous offering evokes a sense of place. Not all of this is marketing claptrap, that new-world chardonnay that smells of a punch bowl does evoke a place, say Cuba, or perhaps my patio in August; unfortunately, neither of these places make wine. The truth is most wines are fermented with commercial yeast strains specifically selected, nay engineered, for the aromatics they add to the final product. The alternative to this paradigm is to make wine the same way all wine was made fifty, one-hundred, and a thousand years ago, allowing the natural, or ‘wild’ yeasts present on the skin of the grapes to carry-out fermentation. A small, but growing number of producers believe that you can’t talk about terroir unless you talk about natural yeasts. I present you two of them for under $30 (available at Kitsilano Wine Cellar).
2008 Village Chardonnay, Kumeu River, New-Zealand
New-world chard. Old-world charm. See what I did there? Sure this wild-ferment offering is from the southern-hemisphere, but don’t let that fool you. It has much more in common with its cousins in France than it does with most Aussie offerings. Except the price. This is the quality of a village-level Burgundy. Which village you ask? The one that tastes like peach, hazelnut, and flint, I guess.
2008 Basic, Claus Preisinger, Austria
(90% Zwiegelt, 10% St. Laurent) Zwiegelt! Austria! Scared? Don’t be. This is like the juice your grandmother gave you, except that grandma mixed it up with grandma’s special juice that’s for grownups only. Fresh, vibrant fruit character, not fruity, that only a natural fermentation could deliver. Or at least that’s what a pundit of natural wine would tell you. Who are you going to believe here? Did I mention black pepper? It will be your gift to yourself in the upcoming holiday season. Drink often.
