Doing Europe and Asia within a span of two weeks has its set of problems and perplexities and I do not mean merely jetlag and a slightly troubled tummy. I mean a plethora of questions and queries, conflicting ideas and ideologies, and unresolved paradoxes which are meaningless by themselves but quirkily intriguing when juxtaposed on a different continent or culture.
In plain English, the world is a varied place. No two corners are alike and can often be different to the point of sparking controversies. All this is not me philosophising about life and its multitudes: this is me just pondering the world of wines. So recently when I circumnavigated the wine world from Spain to Australia a lot of lurking controversies remerged to haunt me yet again.
Cork and screw caps
Spain doesn?t believe in screw caps the same way Australia doesn?t believe in corks. The former believes that wine won?t age without it, or appear classy whereas the Oz seem to play on the fact that most wines are drunk within 24 hours of being bought anyway. No one really knows how much air is required for wine to age, or if at all. What is known is that a screw cap eliminates all chances of a corked wine but then along with that, it also obliterates any romance that may have been associated with the opening of that bottle!
Some people believe that a wine is nothing more than grape juice in a fermented form and should reflect so but others feel it is ok for a wine to aspire to be more than just that. So, some believe that oak adds dimension to a wine whereas other contend it subtracts from the fruit. So a Spaniard may never appreciate the jammy fruity style of many Aussie wines whereas the Australians may find the oaked (and oft a hint-oxidised) Spanish style a tad too rough around the edges. People seem to like both styles, sometimes the same people like both styles, just at different times.
Terroir vs technology
Whether wine is truly made in the vineyards or in the winery is something that perplexes many, but only more forcefully than it does me. Sure wine can never be made without nature?s intervention but technology used judiciously could be a sure aid to guarantee us our favourite brand even in the worst of weather years. It might have been okay to not make wine every year in the last century but with mortgage and interest rates being what they are today, people need to reconsider that stance. Both are crucial but which is more important is something that can make many lose sleep even in-flight.
So what is the conclusion? Travelling confuses you, could be one possible deduction. The wine world has no clue what they are really doing could be yet another plausible one. The more we drink the lesser we know about wine? Perhaps. But the most important thing to remember however will remain this: The wine world is mostly obscure and best unrequited ? if it?s worth a refill, it?s good.
The writer is a sommelier