The Vintners Voice

I have often asserted that the most exhilarating aspect of wine is texture. It is texture that separates good wine from great. Our vocabulary for describing texture is, compared to that of flavor and aroma, rudimentary at best. Though there are a variety of textural qualities I find attractive in wine, the one I most ascribe to greatness is Detailed. No other attribute indicates the greatness of season, site or producer than a wine that seems to be etched of something solid and either polished to a fine sheen or wrapped in a plush jacket of velvet, silk or lace. If a wine is to be classy, it must be Detailed.

As a winemaker I have never considered myself an artist but a craftsman. The distinction for me is that my approach to winemaking is one of bringing out the beauty in my materials, the grape. Think of a furniture maker that is simply presenting a piece of wood in a way that best expresses its inherent beauty. Think of a mason working with stone to build a wall that best presents the nature of the stone. I see art as something more deliberate, something with a more clearly defined end point, something with a higher degree of intent. In the above examples an artist would build furniture more about the building and less about the wood, the wall more about design and technique and less about the stone itself. I’ve just never sought to so exactly determine the nature of my final product that I would consider it art; it isn’t about me it’s about my material.

As I begin blending my 2008 Lorna-Marie and block designated wines I am taken by the degree of Detail the wines show. The wines have very clearly defined borders, prominent but rounded corners and transition smoothly and efficiently between them. The surfaces range from velour and silk to polished glass and metal. The wines are well structured frames wrapped with elegant and exquisite fabrics. Think of them as the muscular arm of a woman not covered by the black dress.

This is allowing me, to an extent I have never before experienced, to more precisely shape a wine in the physical sense; its structure and texture. I feel that by carefully selecting the ‘pieces’ (specific barrels of wine) I can deliberately build the wine. I liken it to sculpture.

However I still cannot claim I am an artist. Each barrel is a very specific expression of Patton Valley Vineyard. They are all indicative of place but each tells there own version of the story. Though I may deliberately and with intent blend a wine, it is still more about the material than it is about me. Even though I am able to control, to a greater degree than ever before, the shape of the final product they are still just the presentation that I believe best shows off Patton Valley Vineyard. Though proud, I am still just a craftsman. I will leave the Art to the Artists.