Troll: Where's the buzz?

[David M. Bueker]

So as I was downplaying the significance of the 2007 German vintage (it is really good, juts not mind bending for me), I suddenly realized that there wasn't any category of wine out there with a significant new vintage buzz. At least I haven't heard about one. '06 and '07 Bordeaux - snooze. '06 and '07 Burgundy - ditto. Loire - I haven't heard boo!

So can I just sit back, cool down my credit card and drink down the cellar? Anybody got some buzz?

Not one of your favorites, David, but I'm hearing rumblings about '07 Calipinot. Also some hints that '07 Northern Rhone might also be special. God knows what that would do to the prices.

'07 California Grenache Blanc and Vermentino blends are pretty stellar. And Gamay! Don't get me started!

[David M. Bueker]

'07 California Grenache Blanc and Vermentino blends are pretty stellar. And Gamay! Don't get me started!

Well I already knew that! As a matter of fact '06 Gamay Rosés are still pretty special. I'm drinking one right now!

[James Roscoe]

'07 California Grenache Blanc and Vermentino blends are pretty stellar. And Gamay! Don't get me started!

Well I already knew that! As a matter of fact '06 Gamay Rosés are still pretty special. I'm drinking one right now!

Talk to wine makers on the east coast about '07. They will tell you it's going to turn the east coast (Virginia mostly) into the next "big thing".

So can I just sit back, cool down my credit card and drink down the cellar? Anybody got some buzz?

2007 Finger Lakes wines are supposed to be good, though I haven't had a chance to try many. Few are available yet, even the usual suspects for early release. Stopped at Ravines, where they were selling a few 2007 wines, though not pouring much in the tasting room. There's a single vineyard Riesling this year as part of a trio of Alsace-style wines that Morten Hallgren made, along with a Pinot Gris that I did get to taste (minerally, crisp, and a bit austere right now, but nice potential) and a Gewurtz. I did buy a bottle of the Pinot Noir Rosé to try; they were pouring the 2006. It's supposedly more fruit-forward in this vintage. It's usually pretty stern, and I like to give it at least a year of age.

How'd I do? Suitable troll response?

Talk to wine makers on the east coast about '07. They will tell you it's going to turn the east coast (Virginia mostly) into the next "big thing".

Not sure about the next big thing but if the fruit I tasted at Linden is indicative of the overall quality than 2007 will be one of the best in a long time. But is anyone besides me going to stock up on Virginia wine? If so is it going to include wine from more than 2-3 wineries? My concern is that there seems to be only a handful of winemakers in Virginia that will be able to take the high quality fruit and turn it into anything approaching stunning. The rest will offer a product that is a step up from their normal offerings but still fall well short of anything worth seeking out. Worse yet, many wineries will continue to turn out uninspired (and in the case of a select few insipid) wine regardless of the overall fruit quality.

I have heard a lot of hype about Southern Rhône but have only tasted one, a CDVR Séguret (approx € 4), which was excellent for its price. The Northern shore of the Med basin enjoyed superb weather so Bandol and Italy may have done well if the wines weren't cooked.

2007 will be a great vintage for Austrian Reds in the Neusiedlersee and Burgenland. Also across the border in Hungary I hope.

[David M. Bueker]

Interesting suggestions everyone, but in fact you're playing right into my hand. There's not much real buzz in the wine world right now. Austrian red wine and Finger Lakes Riesling are lovely, but they aren't "buzz."

I think we're seeing a post-2005 vintage hangover that coupled with a weak economy/worthless dollar is going to put the wine market into a deep funk. Prices won't fall much if at all because of the underlying currency issues/costs of production, but I bet a lot of bottles will be gathering dust.

I guess that's troll part II.

Oh, and before someone from the "pointy board" picks up on this - I don't give a rats *** about Russia, China, India, etc. I'm talking about the developed wine world.

I'm not to long into wine and only for two years part time in the winebusiness. The way I personally felt the hype is like this. There have been a few wine regions I have bought in the last year. Probably 75% of the wines I bought is German Riesling. I was to late to buy the brilliant vintage 2001, then came the oké 2002 of which I could still buy some at the wineries, same goes for 2003 and 2004. After 2001, 2005 would be the alltime best most brilliant etc etc etc vintage ever produced. So I buy as much 2005 I could get my hands on. Then the 2006 vintage, a vintage like no other etc etc etc, I buy a lot 2006. Guess what.... after 2006 we get 2007. 2007vintage, wow what a vintage etc etc etc. I buy 2007. If I have to make a prediction 2008-2100 will all also be very good vintages. The know how and the dedication of the winemakers is so high and the equipment is top notch so there has to happen something spectaculair in order to make very bad wine or wine that is really better than previous vintages. The wineries are so quality minded that they for example in 2006 maybe made 1/4 of the wine they would make in a normal vintage just to make sure the quality of the wine they do sell is very high.
I guess the same could be said of bordeaux. Oké, it seems 2007 will be dissapointing but with vintages like 2000, 2003 and 2005 and with the vintages in between also producing top notch wine I just dont see why there would be any "buzz". Maybe in regions where it rains 364days of the year or where the wineries havent been able to invest in top of the bill equipment and/or dont have the time/dedication/possibilities to work as clean and with respect to nature as possible in the vineyard the vintage will be more important and the difference between vintages be higher. Just my 2cents and probably im totally wrong because my view is not based on any theoratical/practical knowledge

They're not out yet, but 2007 Ontario (and presumably Finger Lakes) are reputedly "best ever". Hard winter killed some vines, then perfect summer, so high quality, low yield. And no rot at all (don't recall another year with that). Several winemakers have promised their finest ever (and that from people I trust).
Stay tuned.

[David M. Bueker]

Felix,

Your comments make a lot of sense, and actually echo many of my personal thoughts. The quality of winemaking is so much higher now, that it will take extreme conditions to cause a truly "bad" vintage. Teh fact that Germany has turned out another fine year is no surprise to me. The same goes for Austria. And while there's no excitement around Bordeaxu or Burgundy right now, I am sure the 2006 and 2007 vintages will have no shortage of delicious wines.

It just seems like the only way to generate excitement any more is to proclaim a "vintage of hte century", and we don't really have any of those right now, except in some minor/niche areas.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I have more than enough great wine in the cellar, and the hype around the great vintages is tiring both financially and also in how it dominates the wine boards. I have just found it interesting that we seem to be in a bit of a lull of excitement, the likes of which we haven't seen in several years.

The question is: Is there a lack of excitement because we are spoiled with good years/wines or because the standard of the wines made don't deserve the "Buzz". Personally I would say it is the first.
The material that is used today for kabinett would have been the material for a Spatlese before. Although I feel bad about the fact I have no real experience with German wines from the 20th century I feel very lucky I started buying german wines now since the amount of high quality wines made now is enormous. Like I said before, I feel the same goes for a lot of other wineregions.
Another thing I noticed is that years of heat normally mean years with a lot of "buzz". For example 1990 Coulee de Serrant is more expensive than then 1989 but is it also the better wine? Although I have no experience with Bordeaux From 1989 and 1990 I think the same comparison could be made. Who knows, maybe 2004/2007 German Riesling will be more appreciated in 20years than the wines from 2005. Or maybe it will more a point of preference than quality. I personally liked the 1990 better than the 1989 Coulée while Mr Schildknecht preferred the 1989, his oppinion is very important to me but at the end I'm the one who has to swallow the stuff.

So, the lack of buzz is the result of greater (and more widespread) competence, of the noteworthy becoming commonplace, rather than the previous "at the mercy of nature" variability. Interesting and credible.

Just thinking: while lower variability resulting from increased control shouldn't affect differences between producers, it should make each producer more capable of achieving a result that reflects their house style, year after year. Such greater regularity might give the impression of increased homogenization in the wine world (perhaps some of the changes attributed to Parker are just a consequence of better science).

Oswaldo, although I feel a lot of winemakers I meet find it important they optimise everything in vineyards and cellar to produce the best wines they can make this does not have to mean the wine loses his Character. For example, Mr Joly said on the tasting I had with him that he found it very important you could taste the year in the wine. Almost all the winemakers I have spoken too tell with great passion about their terroir and I dont feel they try to make the wine, they just try to give us consumers the best expression of what the year and vineyard has to offer without trying to change the characteristics. I do think that because of all the attention to quality and severe selection we just get a different kind of character from the vineyard and year but for me this doesn't mean we get a fake wine that doesn't resemble the characteristics of year/vineyard/winemaker. Mr Theise writes with great passion about topics like this in his reports and his "essays" changed the way I look at wine now compared to how I did for example 6months ago. Wine is crazy stuff.

Oswaldo, although I feel a lot of winemakers I meet find it important they optimise everything in vineyards and cellar to produce the best wines they can make this does not have to mean the wine loses his Character. For example, Mr Joly said on the tasting I had with him that he found it very important you could taste the year in the wine. Almost all the winemakers I have spoken too tell with great passion about their terroir and I dont feel they try to make the wine, they just try to give us consumers the best expression of what the year and vineyard has to offer without trying to change the characteristics. I do think that because of all the attention to quality and severe selection we just get a different kind of character from the vineyard and year but for me this doesn't mean we get a fake wine that doesn't resemble the characteristics of year/vineyard/winemaker.

Well put, Felix, as they say, from your lips to God's ears...

[David M. Bueker]

There's a lot of factors that go into making better wine year after year. Some (e.g. cleanliness in the cellar) are uniformly positive. Some others are more debatable. Selectivity at harvest is touted as a mantra. Producers are lauded for picking only the phenolocially ripe grapes. Then along comes wines like the Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg 'Schmitt' series, and I am converted to the wonders of block picking and the variability in individual grape ripeness that such a picking brings to the blend.

Of course my uniformly positive comment above will engener potential criticism from someone who misses the "funky" element in a particular wine (can you hear me AF?), but I am prepared to lose a little bit of the individuality for the improvement in wine stability against unintended secondary fermentation or other such boogiemen.

Going back to the idea of "buzz" and perhaps that the general wine geek public (is there such a thing?) is totally jaded, I must relate a conversaiton from the Theise portfolio tasting back on June 10 in NYC. I was tasting the aforementioned 'Schmitt' Riesling from Selbach, and remarked what a fabulous wine it was (and it is - buy it!).A fellow taster heard me and tapped my shoulder. He then said to me "But it's only a spatlese this year. It's usually an auslese. What went wrong?" Not wanting to get into a long discussion about grape sugar levels and the outsized expectations brought on by global warming I just shrugged and moved on. J...J...J...Jaded!