The enemies of origin

From the exaltation of the terroir of origin to that, in the opposite sense, of the grape variety or method. What matters most?

“Enemies of Origin” may seem a provocative title at a time in history when there is so much talk of territory, but unfortunately it has its basis in a not-so-subterranean current that can be glimpsed in the attitude of young wine gurus.

Perhaps to go against the grain, perhaps out of true conviction, in their neck of the woods one hears them hymning the method and the grape variety, which have always been culturally opposed to the territory.

Protect the land

The nations where wine is produced, not only Italy then but also France, Spain, Germany… are very careful to defining and protecting production territories. In Italia abbiamo avuto, primi al mondo, il bando del granduca Cosimo III de’ Medici, che già nel 1716 delimitò le zone di produzione del Chianti (oggi Chianti Classico), del Carmignano, del Valdarno di Sopra e del Pomino (all’epoca non si parlava di Rufina), per sottolinearne la grandezza e tutelarne i rispettivi territori in quanto capaci di dare ottimi vini.

Then came the production specifications, the Aoc (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) in France, then the DOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) from us, the Do (Denominación de origen) in Spain, all focused precisely on the origin of the wines and now merged into the European PDOs.

Consumer-only countries, on the other hand, have always been more attentive to grape varieties and production methods, perhaps because from their point of view it is more important to decide to drink a Cabernet than a Bordeaux or a Bolgheri, or a sparkling wine, than a Cava or a Prosecco (Champagne is a story in itself).

The definition of “cru”

Well, what is happening today? While on the one hand, production territories are “going all out,” defining Mga (additional geographical mentions) or Uga (additional geographical units), which beyond the horrible acronyms define the production areas in even more detail, on the other hand there are those who repudiate all this and go back to extolling generic orange, ancestral or undefined “natural wines.” Where these are produced no longer matters; all that matters is the idea they carry around, a phantom Robinson Crusoe-style return to nature, and patience if all this has little to do with the commitment a winemaker puts into trying to make the best expression of the characteristics of his land in the quest for ultimate quality.

So much for our best producers, who go to great lengths to bring out their home territory.