The Forgotten Winemaker | New Brief #249

No, it is not the title of a new thriller novel.

“Good wine is made in the cellar, but exceptional wine is made in the vineyard,” Stellios Boutaris of Greece’s Kir-Yanni Estate told us back in 2008. Since then, we have often heard similar statements, such as “80-90% of the wine’s quality comes from the vineyard”. But doesn’t this underestimate the role of the winemaker? In fact, doesn’t the work after the actual harvest perhaps matter just as much?

There was a time – the 1990s, the early 2000s – when new, impressive wineries and well-trained winemakers popped up like mushrooms. The chemistry of the wine suddenly took centre stage. Consultants and new oak barrels had their heyday. The focus was on the work in the cellar.

Then came the backlash. Attention was instead directed towards the vineyard, a trend that was reinforced as the organic movement grew and awareness of climate change increased. The focus turned to what the vine needed. How can we reduce spraying? How can we improve the biodiversity in this monoculture that vineyards are? And here we are today.

Without excellent raw material, there is no good wine. The ability to harvest fine grapes at the end of the season, with enough ripeness, undamaged and preferably in the good quantities so that the winery can survive economically (another facet of sustainability), requires meticulous work in the vineyard. The recent weeks of persistent rain in some parts of France are a reminder of the importance of being observant, attentive, and able to react quickly. For instance, you must promptly get the vineyard sprayer out between rain showers to save the future harvest. Fungal diseases (e.g. downy mildew) and mouldy grapes do not produce good wines.

However, an excellent raw material, be it grapes or other foodstuff, requires the touch of a skilled winemaker/chef to transform it into a wine or a delicious dish. The result is not guaranteed to be good. The expressions we often hear today, such as “the wine is made in the vineyard”, are frequently accompanied by the notion of “not doing much in the cellar”, “the wine makes itself if you let it”. But the truth is, a good wine does not magically appear just because the grapes are flawless. It might not even become wine at all. As Patrick Pagès, a winemaker in Bordeaux, once said, “wine does not exist without man”.

If you hear this – “I don’t want to influence”, “I don’t want to do much” – all the time, you can easily get the wrong impression – that the winemaker spends his time in the hammock. I don’t think you make good wine on routine. In fact, it is probably quite hard work. And it doesn’t get any easier if you don’t want to use the technical tools that are available. There is a lot that can go wrong during the vinification. If the winemaker prefers low intervention this may instead require more observation and monitoring. If you don’t want to correct something afterwards, you must ensure nothing goes wrong from the very start.

Since I now sing the winemaker’s praise, another thing to point out is the combination of “modest” vineyard land (low-status appellations or no appellation at all) and a skilled winemaker. It can make fantastic wines. And quite the opposite, the fact that it says Grand Cru or similar (presumably an exceptional vineyard) on a bottle does not automatically make it unforgettable if the winemaker doesn’t have the right talent..

The winemaker is more important than just a paltry 10-20%.

Sure, the earthworms in the soil are important, but let’s also pay tribute to the real hero, the winemaker.

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Enjoy the Brief!

Britt & Per

Wine editors to the national encyclopedia, Forbes.com contributors, award-winning wine book authors, wine tour advisors to the UN and national wine organisations, wine judges … and, above all, passionate wine travellers.

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