There seem to me to be some very interesting rabbit holes to follow from here. I don’t have the time to explore them all right now. But I suspect many will find this very worthwhile if not at least entertaining.
F
“Indigenous yeasts have adapted to high temperatures. To control the temperature during fermentation, we open doors and windows” – Maria Jose Lopez de Heredia
Every ten years or so we have a new fad in wine and then things go back to normal.
This fad reminds me of the early 70s, when unfined and unfiltered ruled the roost. White wine either looked like a snow globe or organic apple juice.
Of course, the new cool adds flor yeast to the party so you can have your sherry w/o having to drink Spanish.
I will get worried about this trend when Abe sells the Scrotum project to Treasury for $200 million.
Is anybody getting as tired as I over the use of “hipster somm”??
Don’t know that I’ve ever met one. Would somebody give me some names??
Tom
Day.
Made.
A Brit writer living in Berlin knows all the hipster somms in Brooklyn? I get the type he is referring to but it’s a bit of a dead horse. Parker is irrelevant these days - what did he have to do with the growth of Meiomi, which sells in Brooklyn as well as anywhere?
What a shock. An older guy (around my age) complaining about young people.
“Get off my lawn” the old goat hollers from his front porch at the kids out there. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Tom
One minute you re the kid on the lawn.
Then you are the hipster.
One day a bunch of kids start throwing a frisbee on your yard and you tell them to go away.
has been living in Williamsburg for the past coupla years, truth to tell. And yes, he knows them. And he knows wine extraordinarily well.
We have had hipster wines and hipster somms for a long time. It’s always being au courant before everyone else. Once upon a time people at dinner parties would announce they only bought their wine at kermit Lynch…kinda like saying, I only do acid with Ken Kesey and Sonny Barger … In the '60s and '70s Chalone Group functioned a bit this way. All the winemakers were variations on Dick Graff…Zen philosopher, musical historian, etc. They all seemed to live off the grid and read Kant or Montaigne in their spare time.
Essentially we have a bunch of guys who are around 30 who start wineries and enjoy five or ten years as cool cats. Then one day they wake up, and it’s all about getting the 730 flight to the Twin Cities for the Edina Wine Festival.
I think of:
Jim Clendenen: 29 when he started ABC
Mike Richmond: 33 when he started Acacia
Dick and Dave at Saintsbury: early 30s
Steve Kistler: 32
Bob Lindquist of Qupe: 28
The next thing you know they are 50 and Steve Clifton, Pax Mahle, Wells Guthrie etc are the New Young Kids.
What is interesting about the newest generation of winemakers:
1/Pinot Noir and Syrah are not always the Holy Grail…think lagrein
2/flor yeast is not bad for table wine
3/the more obscure the grape variety the better
4/whatever the previous generation did was stupid
And another thing:
Don t forget that most of the people who buy and sell wine are under 45, esp in restaurants.
A friend of mine attended sommelier conference somewhere in Europe. The European somms…grey hair…The Americans looked like they just got out of high school.
Very few seem to stick around and work the floor past 45 here.
some top dogs in NYWC wine importers and distributors only commented by email directly to me.
Good to see the old “lots of important folks agree with me, they just are afraid to say it publicly” argument (aka “I’m getting overwhelming support from lurkers by PM”) is still alive and well.
I’m not particularly into natural wines, nor do I feel an attraction to the more oxidized Jura wines. Yet I have never felt oppressed by the “hipster somms”
It’s a touch ironic that these “top dogs” had no problem with looking sommeliers in the eye 15 years ago and telling them they haven’t bought enough wine yet to get insert coveted wine A here and don’t even think about asking for any insert even more coveted wine B here.
I don’t love natural wines at all, but part of the rise of the genre is due to the traditionally great wines going off the deep end with pricing. You need to have wines you are really passionate about AND that you can afford. Most somms I know (located in Portland, OR) don’t make the money to drink GC Burgundy and high end Bordeaux. Many of the great wineries from traditional regions are now priced out of reach for most restaurant people and that just means that each new fad competes against lesser and lesser wines from the “classic” growing regions.
Mel, I always like your posts, but this is my new favorite.
Marcus,
I am here for you.
M
<— this.
I am a successful professional and probably spend more than I should on this wonderful affliction of ours, and I feel like I can barely afford mid-level burgundy or Bordeaux.
Can’t fault the young Turks of the wine industry for championing new, exciting wines that have a neo-classic or old-school aura to them but that are still below the stratosphere in terms of price.
We can all end up arguing against straw men…somms who love flor yeast in their Sonoma County Chardonnay…wine salesmen who force you to buy 50 cases of overpriced Cotes du Rhone in order to buy what you really want…wines that are too expensive…
Since we make Lodi Barbera, Moscato Giallo, Primitivo and Vermentino I am certainly in favor of Young Turks who champion new exciting and affordable wines.
Let’s not forget that there is always a generational aspect to the whole drinks business. And that the customers always have the final say.
Sure Mel, but I am still going to call it the Scotum project from now on regardless of what the customer thinks…