Niagara Wine Reviewsrickwine, The BlogTop Stories

A writer shakes up the “natural order” of wine and sends hipster somms into a tizzy; going au naturel at Tawse, Haywire

aSouthbrook-orange

Oh, my. Someone touched a very big nerve and sent the wine community into a frenzy not seen since a wine from California won the Judgment of Paris in 1976.

In case you’ve been living under a rock (or don’t let weighty wine issues ruin your day), here’s what happened (briefly).

British wine journalist Stuart Pigott, a man of great integrity and someone I admire both as a writer and a human being, wrote a scathing three-part series under the title The Rise of the Hipster Sommelier.

From the opening graph …

“Who do the young hipster somms of NYWC (New York Wine City) think they really are? Call it a collective delusion they’re suffering from if you will, but that doesn’t alter the fact the hipster somms have an all-American hardwired-for-positive conviction they are the New Masters of the Universe!”

aSbrtUJke… Pigott inserted himself into a debate being waged in wine circles around the planet, and surely in every cool bar and tony restaurant in every trendy city in every country on the face of the Earth.

Natural wine.

Utter it and eyes bug out; write it, and the hate mail floods the comment section of your website or FB feed. Those two words are the most toxic in the wine industry today. And Pigott laid the blame (in no uncertain terms) for its rise in popularity squarely on today’s uber hip (or hipster hip) somelliers of New York City.

To wit:

“The problem with many of the hipster somms’ recommended wines was that they were light years removed from tasting good, often smelt (British for smelled) seriously bizarre, and at worst they tasted disgusting and/or totally oxidized and/or faulty. Then the (cheque) came and I realized I just blew a pile of money on confronting that painful liquid truth: ouch!”

He followed that up in Part III of his series with this nut graph:

“Now it’s time to get down and dirty. No wines are more awesomely authentic for the hipster somms of NYWC than the so-called “natural” wines, meaning wines that in the cellar where they were made were allowed to behave like badly brought-up teenagers who seldom wash or shave and ignore the everyday rules of polite behavior. OK, some of these wines taste interesting, and a few of them even taste good. However, the degree of oxidation and/or microbial spoilage in many not only makes them taste unpleasant, but also obscures the characteristic aromas and flavors of the grape variety.”

There you have it. The bomb that launched a million sad faces. And none more sad than Rachel Signer, a writer who has a blog called Wine + Dine With Me.

aDSC_5832

In her rebuttal column to Pigott (and a war of words on Twitter), Signer wrote A Brief Response To A Heinously Unprofessional Piece Of Wine Writing.

This is where it gets downright ugly. It’s more of a personal attack on Pigott, who, incidentally, has a remarkable 30 years of wine journalism under his belt and is one of the world’s foremost Riesling critics. But she questions it all while admitting she really knows nothing about the man (not a great position of strength).

From Signer’s blog:

“Pigott, clearly, is not a believer in natural wines. He calls biodynamic farming close to ‘black magic,’ which leads me to think that he has absolutely no understanding of the benefits of using local plants to treat vineyards; has he ever visited a biodynamic producer or an esteemed professor of biodynamics, of which there are many (yes, including in Riesling land, Stu!) and asked them questions about this? I assume not.”

Signer makes a few points in defence of natural wines and the “hipster” somms of NYC, but mostly it’s an attack on the credentials of Pigott who has a long list of accomplishments in the wine world.

aour-philosophy

It’s all rather interesting, and a bit sad at the same time. Natural wine, and its growing popularity, needs to be discussed. It’s not going away any time soon as more and more traditional wineries are adding to their portfolios with wines that are made with less and less intervention. It’s all fuelling a new generation of wine lovers looking for more than classified Bordeaux, Cru Burgundy and IGT Italian wines. They don’t want Napa, Australia anything or South America — they want niche wines for their small, intellectual circle of wine friends. The weirder, the better.

Why aren’t we cool with that? You may say it tastes and “smelts” like shit, but they love it. So be it. I can’t even take a sip of Fernet, yet every wine person I know claims to love it. I adore old Napa Cabs, but can’t find many people to enjoy it with because Napa isn’t cool any more.

It’s how the wine world works. Everyone’s on to the next big shiny thing.

aocp chickens

I come down on the side of natural wines. I like them, not all of them, but a lot of them. I like the variety natural wines bring to the table. I like the funkiness and can relate to the story Pigott tells of a group of “hip” wine lovers who perk up when the winemaker mentions “wild ferment.” I do, too! Wild ferment, no sulphur, zero dosage, organic vineyard, no fining, no filtration. Bring it on, I love it. Cloudy wines turn me on (figuratively).

It doesn’t mean I don’t love traditional, conventional winemaking, as long as it isn’t over-manipulated. I like oak (in moderation … and in rare cases, way over the top) and I understand that farming sometimes requires intervention to save the crop. I get that wine looks better when it’s perfectly clear in the glass and totally understand that sparkling wine is more appealing to the majority of people when it gets a shot of residual sugar (I happen to like zero dosage).

a15838316009_54f9a6f05c_b

Wine is beautiful and its beauty comes from myriad soils, climates, grapes, styles, oak, concrete, amphora, stainless steel and, maybe most of all, the human touch (the winemaker, the grape grower, and picking decisions).

Stuart Pigott has a problem with natural wines, I get it, lots of people do. Rachel Signer has a problem with Pigott, I get that, too, but attacking him on a perceived notion of shoddy journalistic credentials really takes away from the debate, not to mention that it’s just plain wrong. He’s earned the right to speak his mind, as hard as that is for some people to understand.

… Which brings me to the point of this post:

The growing family of Canadian natural (or near natural) wines.

aIMG_5570

Just three years ago, you couldn’t find a natural Canadian wine. Oh, lots of organic/biodynamic farming, lots of low intervention wines, lots of wine where the winemaker took a back seat in the process, but natural? No, not by any definition.

You certainly can now. It’s not a proliferation, but there is a lot of experimentation out there and wineries in both B.C. and Ontario that are finding success both with the quality of the wines and with consumers who are buying the wines.

awide from vineyard

Niagara’s Tawse Winery, built on a concept of biodynamic/organic farming for estate wines and a clean, low-intervention approach to winemaking, released its first “natural” wine, a single-vineyard Chardonnay, last year. It was a small batch made with no sulphur added, wild fermentation and bottled from neutral oak barrels to bottle without fining or filtration. It sold out immediately. Not because it was cool, but because it tasted wonderful.

Now the Vineland winery has added two more natural wines to the family — a Gamay and a Pinot Noir that are presented unsulphured.

aPaul-Pender

Winemaker Paul Pender says the natural approach is an extension of what Tawse already does with its organic/biodynamic farming.

“I do not want to make unsulphured wines just because it is trendy,” he says. “I wanted to make wines that are healthier for you, that taste real and clean, even though the wines are not protected by a blanket of CO2. This is not easy to achieve, but it can be done.”

For Pender, it’s about texture, uniqueness and complexity of those wines.

aOkanagan-Crush-Pad-owners-Steve-Lornie-and-Christine-Coletta-at-Switchback-Organic-Vineyard

aCrush-Pad-e1467671671778

On a similar path is the progressive-thinking Haywire winery in Summerland, B.C., owned by Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie (above). Also farming organically in its estate vineyards and working with growers who have the same philosophy, Haywire now has several bottlings of natural wines and many more damn close to it. There is no oak used at Haywire, everything is wild fermented and aged in concrete vats or amphora with a growing list of wines with no sulphur added, no fining, and no filtration.

These wines DO NOT fall into the category of natural “hipster” wines that Pigott rails against in his series. Not even close. They are well-made wines crafted with skill by the very capable winemaker Matt Dumayne who would not risk making wines with extreme faults such as the “oxidation and/or microbial spoilage” that so disgusts Pigott (and most of us!).

I tried a range of both Haywire and Tawse wines recently, both the natural wines and the more traditional wines. Here’s what I liked (note to Stuart Pigott, come on down and taste .. these wines won’t bite).

Tawse Winery

The Natural Collection (all wild yeast, no sulphur added, organic/biodynamic farming)

a2015 Unfiltered ChardTawse Quarry Road Vineyard Unfiltered Chardonnay 2015 ($36, winery, 90 points) — A clean, fresh nose of apple skin, citrus, wet-stone minerality, lime and underlying oak spice. The minerals shine on the palate with flavours of baked apple, peach cobbler and bolstered by citrus zing on the finish. Oak is kept in check through the mid-palate and never plays a dominant role.

a2015 Unfiltered Pinot NoirTawse Quarry Road Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2015 ($35, winery, 91 points) — An interesting nose of boysenberry, earthy red fruits, minerals, violets and light spice. Lovey texture and gentle tannins on the palate with an array of ripe red fruits, bramble and a kiss of oak.

a2015 Unfiltered GamayTawse Redfoot Vineyard Unfiltered Gamay 2015 ($29, winery, 92 points) — If ever a was made for natural winemaking, Gamay is that grape. An exciting nose of plums, forest floor, charred cherry and bright raspberry. It’s crazy-good on the palate with vivid, jacked up cherry and plum flavours that are full and rich through the finish.

Haywire

aIMG_5572

Haywire Switchback Wild Ferment 2014 ($30, 92 points) — The Pinot Gris grapes are from the estate organic Switchback Vineyard. The grapes are pressed into 800-litre clay amphorae to ferment with native yeast and skins on for 8 months with zero winemaking intervention (no sulphur, no additives, no filtering). Such a creamy, fragrant wonder on the nose. Rich, deep and earthy notes of bruised apple, cantaloupe, brown sugar and almond paste. It has weight and viscosity on the palate, some tannins and shows pie crust, apple filling and citrus in a muscular style. Feels like a red wine on the palate with highly stylistic white wine flavours. It messes with your mind (in a good way).

aWHXiyi3kEDEQv_YzQgxZJVpbr_NpCOpFu88l0tQHKDoHaywire Free Form White 2014 ($35, 91 points) — Free Form White is made from sourced Sauvignon Blanc and is made naturally with zero additives, filtration and wild fermentation after five months of skin contact. The wine shows bright orange in the glass with a nose of peach, flinty minerality, mango, apricot, dried herbs and apple skin. On the palate look for an explosion of tropical and orchard fruit, subtle, plush tannins, lovely texture and lively acidity. A pure ball of energy and flavour. Bravo!

aMWyGh415IvcEqrPLIPx_73irbm-y-P_oogYZe9Y3eCMHaywire Free Form Red 2014 ($55, 93 points) — 100% Pinot Noir, wild yeast, aged on skins for 8 months in 800-litre amphorae, no filtration, no sulphur and no additives. It has a rich and layered nose of black cherry, cassis, cocoa and minerality. It’s intense with amazing depth of flavours that include black cherry, chocolate, crushed dark berries, spice and incredible texture and brightness through the finish.

Note: More reviews of the conventional wines from both Haywire and Tawse to follow