01/01/2006
Experts often clash over the fine points of wine appreciation and value. Worth queried oenophiles from opposite sides of the planet—specifically, Italy and Oregon—to see what points of conflict and consensus exist on questions of taste and investment.
Severino Barzan is owner and master sommelier of Bottega Del Vino in Verona, Italy, one of that country’s premier wine houses. He has won many honors, including the 2004 Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator. Earlier this year, Barzan opened Bottega Del Vino in Manhattan. The restaurant boasts New York’s largest wine cellar, with more than 2,000 labels and 50,000 bottles. He spoke with features editor Emily DeNitto.
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| JAY MACDONALD (Photograph by Steve Bonini.) |
There are myriad types of wine glasses, and some have called the act of washing wine glasses an art. Do these factors really affect the taste and enjoyment of wine?
Severino Barzan: The shape and kind of glass is very important. The glass is the last link in the chain of the wine. A bad glass can destroy a lot of work by the wine makers and producers; a great glass helps make it a great experience.
I design and produce my own glasses. That way I get what I want. They are all handblown. They have to be perfectly clean, and before serving the wine, they have to be vinified—the glass must be washed with the wine you are about to drink. That’s important, because any other taste or perfume inside must disappear. When you put your nose to the glass, you want only the flavor of the wine you are about to drink. If it hasn’t been done, there is absolutely a difference. I have run many tests, where we use the same wine both in glasses that have been vinified and those that have not. People think they are drinking two different wines.
Every type of wine needs its own glass. My recioto spumante is for champagne, but it is not long and thin. You can put your nose in it. It’s very important. The difference between a handblown and a machine-made glass is not just aesthetic. The handmade is perfectly thin; a machine cannot do it.
Jay MacDonald: I am not so sure if each glass made for each specific varietal is the “best” for that varietal, but they do make a difference. I use the same glass for tasting all my pinots; that way I have a consistent vessel and can make better decisions on blending. When we do tastings, we rinse with the subsequent wine. Never rinse with water; in most cases, water contains chlorine, which will kill the wine. If you do not want to waste the wine by rinsing with it, drain as much as you can out of the glass and pour wine on top of wine.
As far as washing the glasses, I would not recommend using anything
but extremely hot water, as detergents tend to either etch into the glass or
leave a residue. I do, however, handwash the better glassware with liquid
detergent to remove lipstick. It seems that stuff is stronger than Super Glue
lately. Drying the glass with a napkin is also a bad idea; the cloth or paper
will have chemicals on it as well. We dry and polish glasses with linen; it does
not leave spots or lint.
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| SEVERION BARZAN (Photograph by Thomas Hart Shelby.) |
Barzan: They have a very important impact on the market for sure, but it’s not the only impact. Robert Parker is recognized around the world as a great professional. He knows what he’s doing. But he’s not God; he doesn’t know everything.
People who automatically follow any wine guru’s recommendations aren’t real wine lovers. Real wine lovers can contest others’ opinions. They agree; they disagree. The good wine is the one you like more.
MacDonald: Now it seems that most people buy whatever is rated above a certain score. This is sad; it really shows a lack of self-esteem on the part of the buyer or perhaps it is another way to deflect blame or take praise based upon the outcome of their own personal tasting. The gurus are also seemingly taste makers—wineries attempt to make wines to please the all-powerful critics so that they can sell their wine more easily.
A recent Wall Street Journal column extolled the virtues of certain wines from Thailand; the grapes are grown on islets and harvested by boat. Even wines from Michigan boast of their unique terroir. How important is locality? Is it possible to find great wines from all over the world today?
Barzan: You can make wine all over the world, but it all depends on what you want from wine. It’s not possible to get great wine just anywhere—not where the sunshine is very strong, for example. If sunshine were the key, Africa would make the best wine in the world.
What you need for a great wine is a fantastic terroir and the right climate. The varieties of grapes change the terroirs. Take a corvine grape from my area of Italy. Plant this variety in Oregon and you’ll have grapes, you’ll make a wine, but it will never be an Amarone like here.
It’s easy to say that Italy and France make the best wine in the world. In these countries, we have the culture and the tradition of the area that permits us to make a certain wine. I drink wines from all over the world —I’m very curious—and I like many of them. New world wines from Australia, America, South Africa, etc., are free; they don’t have any traditions. It would be impossible in Italy to blend a santa vasae and a biolo, or a nebbiolo and a sangiovese. They are different. But the new world can do it, and sometimes it makes for good wine. They are good wines, but they are not what they want to be, not their pure selves.
MacDonald: Locality or terroir or sense of place is
important when you reach a certain level of appreciation. Good wine shows where
it is from when the wine making is not overhanded. As one’s palate becomes more
educated and in tune with a certain region, consumers can appreciate “history”
in the bottle by drinking through the wine they have purchased over the years
and learning what the weather was like during that year in that locale, the
percentage of new wood used and other such minutiae, which is the fun of this
hobby. A 1997 Pinot Noir from Oregon is easy to discern from a 1998; the weather
was totally different.
| “I would not recommend it as an investment for profit motives; it makes one wary of opening bottles now and then...” |
Where can one find the most sophisticated wine drinkers today? Why?
Barzan: Probably Italy and France, as a percentage of the population. But some of the most sophisticated drinkers are also British or from the United States. Robert Parker, Marty Shanken [the publisher of Wine Spectator] and Hugh Johnson [best-selling wine author] are great examples. They are a smaller percentage of their population, but they are extremely sophisticated professionals.
When it comes to the greater population, though, it’s still Italy and France. It’s part of life there. In the part of Italy I come from, the Venetian area, we taste wines starting very young. I had my first taste at about 5 years old. We didn’t have any Coca-Colas back then. We didn’t drink wines to get drunk, of course, but just to taste. I think it’s good for the body.
MacDonald: You can find them anywhere people are living and taking their passions with them.
It is estimated that more than 80 percent of the wine sold in the United States is priced at less than $10 per bottle. In terms of taste and quality, is there an inherent reason for a $100 bottle of wine to even exist?
Barzan: It isn’t just the U.S. where the bulk of the population drinks wine that’s less than $10 a bottle. That’s true in my country as well. I was talking about Coca Cola; that’s what young people drink. The first time they try wine, they’re 18 years old or so. You can’t give them a great wine; they wouldn’t like it. You need to start with something sweet and sparkling, something closer to soda. Maybe at 25, they’ll go for a Valpolicella. Maybe at 30, they’re ready for an Amarone from Italy, an Opus 1 from California or a Pinot Noir from Oregon.
Not everybody can pay a lot for wine, even if they like it. But a higher price can reflect a higher quality, ab-solutely. Some vineyards produce only a very, very small quantity of grapes, only the highest quality. So they produce less wine. The market will then set the price. If the market wants 20,000 bottles and only 1,000 were made, the price will go up.
For sure, it has to be a very different taste. If I’m drinking the top of the Amarones in my area, they cost a lot of money. But the taste and consistency of these wines give me a lot of satisfaction, so I’m happy to pay. It is possible to get good wine for more reasonable prices. The most expensive wine isn’t always the best. Sometimes wines get overpriced because the market is demanding it. It isn’t always worth it.
MacDonald: Wine is a luxury good within the fashion realm,
as well as an agricultural pursuit. Nothing is wrong with a wine selling for
less than $10 per bottle, and I am glad for wines like “two-buck Chuck” [Fred
Franzia’s Charles Shaw label] because it brings new wine consumers into the
market. This same thing happened back in 1988 to 1990 when the surplus in
California combined with a poor economy. The reason for a $100 or $10,000 bottle
of wine to exist is simple economics.
What is your opinion of wine collectors who view wine as an investment?
Barzan: It is a good investment if you are very careful and really know what
you are doing—and you consult the experts. If you want to buy wine as an
investment, be sure it can age very well, in the right conditions. It has to
become better as it ages, not worse.
Over the past 20 years, wine has been
one of the best investments around. In Italy 20 years ago, you could buy a
Sassicaia for about $15 or $20, and today a 1985 vintage will go for close to
$2,000. At Bottega Del Vino, we get requests for these kinds of wines every day
from people who can pay for it.
For some, it is a commodity. I hope the
buyers are wine lovers, and that they drink the wine and enjoy it. Life is
short. But you can make a profit as well.
MacDonald: Good for them! Wine is a
hobby, and a fun one. It makes people who might start off as strangers become
friends as they share their passion over dinner and become inebriated. Nothing
wrong with that. Many of the world’s problems have been solved over wine—and
then forgotten the next morning.
Wine can be an investment. Many have
succeeded in building cellars over the years that cost them nothing due to
astute purchases in the initial years. However, I would not recommend it as an
investment for profit motives; it makes one wary of opening bottles now and
then—which is what the real fun is about after all.