It’s always fun to discover that an unknown wine from an obscure location is really pretty good. But with all due respect to the Mavrud grapes of Bulgaria or the sparkling wines of Brazil, there’s a reason why the world beats a path to Bordeaux, Tuscany, Napa Valley, Burgundy, the Rioja and Sonoma County: They’re the best. If you want to be a knowledgeable wine taster. before you get off the beaten path, you’d better be familiar with some if not all of the premier sectors of Wine Country
What’s the big deal about being there, in the most famous locales?
For one thing, there’s a pleasure when you open a bottle in remembering what the region looked like or even better what the winery was like. There’s nothing like the experience of touching the actual grapes (or maybe filching one to see what they’re like) when you pour what they made from them. Except for winemakers themselves, most of us couldn’t tell a Cabernet Sauvignon grape from a Pinot Noir, but it’s fun to believe you could. And you can only pretend to do so if you’ve actually been there to see them.
Of course, you can look at grapes anywhere they grow them. But when you’re standing in front of Château Margaux touching the grapes (which we have done) you know that these are among the greatest grapes in the world. You have to be there.
Château Margaux. Photo courtesy of Forbes.
Wine is made of grapes but people make wine. It’s a wonderful experience meeting these people in their own environment. For the most part, they’re very nice. And why shouldn’t they be? You’ve come a long way to taste their wines and you chose their winery for the purpose. If you’re serious about wine tasting – and you must be, because you’re there – they are as eager to know something about their customers as you are to engage with the winemaker.
We were in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or many years ago, having a picnic in a churchyard. A man walked by and spotted us and came over to talk. We thought he was going to tell us to move but, no, he wanted to see what we were drinking with lunch. When he found that a couple from the other side of the Atlantic was having a premier cru with our jambon and baguette, he was quite pleased. “Quelle pique-nique!” It turned out that he owned a few rows of vines in the adjoining vineyard. We think of him every time we open a top Burgundy. To do that, you have to be there.
For us, wine is a beverage to accompany dinner, sometimes for meditation, a subject of eternal fascination and, in wine tasting, an avocation that has taken us to vineyards around the world. We can and do enjoy the wine from the store around the corner, but it’s not the same experience. The pleasure of wine tasting, as opposed to drinking, comes as much from the tastes, memories and feelings as much as from the wine itself. And to get that experience, you have to be there.