“Compared to what?”
Still, as one observes today on the social media platforms, one might think it to be one giant movable feast. The young generation who’ve inherited it from this point surely make it out to be a well-tanned cake walk, with the commensurate high-toned tastings in exotic places from Bangkok to Miami. Along with that, the four and five star stays at hotels in fascinating spots like Dubai and Singapore, poolside moments notwithstanding, as well as sumptuous dining experiences at all hours of the day and night. One might think the essence of Italian wine was just one long glamorous ride on a magic red carpet, like something out of One Thousand and One Nights. Were that it was as simple as that.
It's like watching someone drive up to the valet in Houston or Los Angeles in a Ferrari or a Lamborghini and imagine that is the epitome of the Italian car tableau, the end all and the be all of it. And for those in the pits, they know that ain’t so. So it is, as well, in the Italian wine landscape. There’s a hell of a lot more blood sweat and tears than foie gras and Franciacorta. In the field, a Defender is a work vehicle, not a totem for status. And a filone and a carafe of the new wine is more likely to feed the body than will a deconstructed savory cannolo and a quartino of orange wine, employed to feed the ego in some far-flung destination touted on TikTok.
The actuality is that it took a long time and a lot of hungry souls to get Italian wine to the place it is today, and even though it is a small world, it has taken, and will continue to take, an army of committed individuals to keep the continuation propelling into the future. Which means some of the children on the beaches of Phuket and the Maldives might have to come back home and get a little more dirt under their nails. Why?
Let’s just say AI. Or in wine terms, China. Just as we’ve seen in fashion and vehicles, the competition to create a dominant bedrock for a market is not a static thing. The urge to be better, to be number one, is a human craving, not the sole possession of any one culture - not the French, not the Italians, not the Americans. The whole world is plugged in now, and they want their shot at the brass ring. We’ve already seen it in technology, and with the effects of global climate change, the conditions that make Italy (or France) so unique for wine production can, sooner or later, exist elsewhere. And the loom on which that future lore will be woven is more easily achieved in that kind of future in which we are heading.
A friend of mine frequently reminds me the Rome fell because they essentially ran out of money. The economy stupid. Well, it doesn’t take a genius to look at Western countries, like Italy, and their enormous debt linked with the unequal distribution of wealth, to know that those Cartier and Botox bedecked princesses lying on tanning mats in Abu Dhabi while sipping on Bollinger RD is not a recipe for sustainability of supremacy. But hey, don’t take it from a plebe. Just wait and see, because the fire-storm is coming. Get your fiddles ready.
Time and chance are unlimited to all. It's a small world, and it’s getting smaller.
