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Irregularities On The World Wine StageCURTIS MARSH EXAMINES THE PREJUDICESAND MISCONCEPTIONS THAT DISTORTWINE OPINION AROUND THE WORLD, AND

HOW THESE ATTITUDES ARE INFLUENCINGCONSUMERS IN ASIA.

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There are many inconsistencies on the world wine stage when itcomes to perceived wine quality, popularity (or unpopularity) o particular grape varieties, wine styles, regions or even entire countries.Sometimes, these anomalies have a rational explanation, yet in manyinstances there are perplexing and illogical evaluations or warped

idealisms that render even the unquestionable quality o a highlyregarded wine irrelevant and banished to consumer oblivion. Althoughwe are dealing with an acutely subjective indulgence blurred byintrospective personal tastes and unpredictable biases, ardent consumerpatriotism in wine producing countries is a most evident criterion there is nothing more potent than nationalism when it comes to

orming wine opinion. For example, i you are French, it is highlyunlikely that you will be convinced other wine producing countries inthe world can match the vinous supremacy o France. Likewise, i youare Italian you will doubtlessly de end Italys myriad o wines (and allits eccentricities) with an animated, passionate rhetoric o regionaltipicita (typical or authentic) and conduciveness to ood. But it is not

just the Old World that has entrenched wine parochialism. Case inpoint: the rivalry between Australia and New Zealands wine consumingpublic (despite mutual British ancestry and a Commonwealth bond) isas equally vehement as the two countries clashing in rugby or cricket.Despite the blinkered views o these indigenous consumers, there isan overwhelming rationale that encompasses the natural a nity withlocal ood and customs, particularly so in Europe. The abundance anda ordability o good wine also justi es the proneness to local products.Whilst the New World has generally become more accepting o imports,exporting wine to European wine producing countries is like as theysay, coals to Newcastle. No matter how exceptional and reputable thewine, it is likely to be relegated to curio status.

Local LoyalistsNext up is good old ashioned rivalry prevalent between di erentregions and, obviously, not exclusive to wine. There are o ten historical,cultural and even religious divisions between opposing regions, coupledwith the timeless competitive nature o human beings (a power ul orceon its own) that o ten goes beyond the boundaries o good sport withcorruptive and prejudicial behaviour. Lets just say, you would not wantto bring a bottle o Bordeaux to a Burgundians dinner table. Similarly,

ronting up in Piedmont with a bottle rom Tuscany is not wise. Thisstate o mind applies equally to the New World winemaking countries.Take your average Sydney-sider in New South Wales, Australia, extollingthe virtues o Hunter Valley wines whilst dismissing those overratedwines rom down south in Victoria. Even the New Zealanders, who areknown or their riendly and cohesive approach, admit a clandestinerivalry exists between wineries in the North Island and South Island.

This regional pride invariably localises down to towns and villages orcommunes, with the presumed superiority o the surrounding vineyards

ercely de ended against rival neighbours. Look no urther thanGermanys obsessive deliberations over classi ying their distinguishedindividual vineyards or the contentious debates over the di erentialso Burgundys appellations and comparisons o supremacy betweenGrand Cru, Premier Cru and lieu-dit, when in many cases you can standwith a oot in one vineyard and the other in the adjacent vineyard.There are also entrenched loyalties in the metropolises with manywine regions exceedingly dependant on the surrounding population,whom also have a signi cant impact on wine styles and the grape

varieties grown, regardless o their suitably to the climate or terroir. Forexample, Parisians have a longstanding pre erence or wines rom theLoire Valley, particularly idiosyncratic reds such as Bourgeuil, Chinonand Sancerre Rouge esoteric wines that have little ollowing in theinternational market. Similarly, on the other side o the planet, the

inhabitants o Adelaide and its environs who are surrounded by theBarossa Valley, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale wine regions and raisedon Herculean Shirazes, will turn up their noses at Pinot Noir. In totalcontrast, Melbournians, encircled by Pinot Noir producers, deem itto be unquestionably the most ashionable red variety despite theareas climate being suitable to all number o varieties. Likewise, as thestatus o the Oregon and Willamette Valley wine regions have risen, thepalates o Seattle citizens have become conspicuously accommodatingo Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.

Wine Choices In AsiaLocal biases aside, o the 867 grape varieties listed in the exhaustiveOxford Wine Companion (this does not include the countless indigenousclones), it is mind-boggling how ew make the cut on the internationalwine stage. Since early Roman times, the wider popularity o grapevarieties is largely determined by its ability to travel or adapt to newenvironments and, above all, ashion. Lets exclude the ambitions o China and India to become signi cant producers o western-styletable wine and accept that in general, the wider Asia region doesnot produce premium wine. So undamentally, neither patriotism norregional bias should a ect wine consumerism. There ore, lets drawa comparison with the metropolises o Asia to the UK wine market,which hypothetically has no allegiances (although Claret does havea strong history) and has a relatively impartial approach to buyingwine. Albeit, it still susceptible to the ckleness o ashion. The UK andLondon wine market is, o course, a lot more evolved and extremelyprice competitive. Indeed, it is viewed as the epicentre o the globalwine trade with both the wine press and consumers greatly infuencingwine drinking trends worldwide, corroborated by its vinous neutrality.(Well, at least presently. This could well change with global warming!)There is the signi cant expatriate population in Asia to consider, whobring with them their loyalties and enthusiasm to propagate theirmotherland products. However, despite this discernible infuence, it isthe domestic consumer who ultimately shapes the market.

There is nothing more potent thannationalism when it comes to formingwine opinion.

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It is apparent however, that Asian consumers are not impartial at all,and in act are deeply embroiled in the topical rivalry between the socalled New World versus the Old World o wine a division whichgoes beyond individual countries. When it comes to premium wine orthe perception o high-quality, Asian sentiment is monopolised by the

Old World, re erring to the European producers seemingly cementedin tradition with an overriding aura o historical pre-eminence. Moreexplicitly, the Asian consumer is so enraptured with Bordeaux thatthe wine region has become a symbol o ones success and status, tothe point o being a vinous shrine. In contrast, the New World thatis everyone other than Europe, which includes North America, Chile,Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South A rica is o ten treated inAsia with a Johnny-come-lately contempt by the wine cognoscenti ordemoted in status by the average consumer. There are however, manycontradictions in this polemic. Notwithstanding the globalisation o wine and stylistic blurring, i not merging o the two actions, orexample the polarised idealisms in the Bordeaux region with theso-called garagiste (small garage-sized) producers o St Emilion andPomerol making more pro ound wines that many eel are closer in styleto Cali ornian Cabernets than classic elegant Bordeaux Claret.

There are also two glaring misconceptions. Firstly, that terroir, the totalvineyard environment with an emphasis on soil and in erring ancientgeological evolution, is exclusive to the Old World (particularly France,which blatantly exploits this). Thus, the second misconception is thatthe oldest vines must also only exist in Europe. In actual act, themost ancient terroir is ound on the continent o Australia, orged atthe beginning o earths ormation with some o the oldest rocks inthe world (3.7 billion years old). As or old vines, it is also a act thatAustralia has some o the oldest vines in the world, having escapedthe vine louse phylloxera that devastated vineyards around the worldby the end o the 19th century. Indeed, there are numerous Australian

vineyards with vines past their 100th birthday and substantiatedevidence that the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines in the world (142

years old) reside in Pen olds Barossa Valley Kalimna vineyard. Thereis also the assumption that the New World is responsible or all themodern techniques and agents provocateurs o commercialising orstripping wines o their regional personality. Yet look behind the o tenquaint and charming acades o wineries and you will nd most that

most chemical additives, whether natural or synthetic, largely comerom Europe these include enzymes, favour enhancers, colouringagents, grape concentrates and tannins, oak essences, and state-o -the-art manipulative winery machinery. Take or example the controversialprocess o micro-oxygenation. This technique and machinery wasinvented by Frenchman Patrick Ducournau to combat the exceedinglytannic wines made rom the Tannat grape in the Madiran region o southern France. The technique was quickly and widely adopted byBordelaise as the process increases aromatic intensity and so tenstannins, while at the same time increasing the body o the wine witha rounder mouth- eel. It also decreases vegetal-herbaceous aromas(normally a product o under-ripe grapes) as well as removes reductioncharacters that are known to be proportionally higher in CabernetSauvignon. All o this sounds pretty good really; like making a silkpurse rom a sows ear. This technology is now widespread throughoutthe world with over two thousand o the machines serviced by theinventors consulting company. Sometimes, I wonder which action (OldWorld or New World) is more abreast o pertinent technology and howto best balance it with tradition and nature. With such advances in thescience o wine chemistry and botany, alongside mechanical ingenuity,I ear we are in danger o arti cially synthesising an otherwise purelynatural beverage.

Concurrently, there has been a ermenting pro essional jealousybetween the Old World and New World winemakers, particularlywith the French, who seem exasperated by the act that Australiahas unseated France as the biggest selling country by volume in the

strategic UK market. Yet, there is a delicious irony here as Australiastruggles to meet economies o scale and demand in the market it hasdoggedly pursued, because o drought and global warming it is nowstruggling to reposition the reputation it needs and arguably deserves

or premium wine. Whilst many o these anomalies can be in part,attributed to a lack o consumer awareness, the misrepresentation o wines rom an entire country in the wider Asia market is peculiarlyunjust here, I am thinking o America, Germany, Austria, Spain, andPortugal. Importers play a pivotal role here. They are largely ultra-conservative, dictating what we drink, yet ew are willing to take risksor punt on the next wine trend or niche market that is clearly ripe orexpansion. It is time more importers in Asia woke up to what the resto the wine-savvy world is thriving on.

A preponderance o importers in Asia are also xated on cheap winesthat acilitate pro teering throughout the resale chain, adding credenceto the widely held theory that Asia is a dumping ground or wine. Thenthere is Asias xation on wine scores, a deeply controversial topic thatI will explore in a uture column. CM