Distilling it down into three areas - Devotion, Direction and Dissent - let’s dive in.
Devotion – It would be most difficult for any country, place or winemaker to just go through the steps, marching towards oblivion, without some sense of ardor. Wine would just be an alcoholic beverage. Terroir would be meaningless. It would fail economically, but even more urgently, it would be a disaster for the living things one touched, pruned, pressed and ultimately turned into wine. It would be a lie without the devotion needed to sustain such a life and an undertaking. Wine is not a box of nails or a bag of fertilizer. Wine is more than the contents of the bottle that holds the liquid we call wine. Wine is a manifestation of that faithfulness to mission. And that is something Italy has never lacked. Yes, at times, it has gotten off track. But it has, more often than not, self-corrected and gotten itself back on the correct pathway. And just like their great grandfathers and mothers and grandparents, their children, now today’s squad of winemakers dotting the winescape, understand that, albeit it in their own particular way. And why should they see it exactly like their progenitors? Where would there be space for evolution within the revolution?
Direction – Prior to GPS, if you were ever to ask Italians how to get from one place to another, you might get any number of answers. Point being, there is never just one way to get to one’s destination. GPS made it easier for drivers and city walkers. But when it comes to the quo vadis of wine, that’s a whole ‘nother thing.
But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Italians have been wrestling over the question of where to go with wine for eons. With today’s hyper-connected world, influences abound from all over the globe. Hence, we can find traditional wines from traditional grapes, international wines from international grapes, modern wines, ancient wines, natural wines and highly polished commercial/industrial wines, wines that could be made anywhere, and wines that could only be found in Italy.
For that reason, it is hard to pinpoint the direction Italian wine is going. But where it is coming from is this: It is coming from wines that weren’t made as well as they are today. Wines being made today are cleaner when they need to be and funky when they are so desired. But funky as a result of a conscious decision, not because something broke down along the way in the process. And after the winemaking, the route to market has definitely improved, from better labeling to better packaging (including those shipping boxes), to the containers they travel on (now insulted and often refrigerated). The logistical process has improved Italian wine as it is seen by the end-users.
Not too long ago it wasn’t unusual to hear someone say “ I loved the _____ wine I had when I was on vacation in _____, but upon returning home, when I picked it up at the store or in a restaurant, it just wasn’t the same. Notwithstanding the conditions in which the wine in Italy was enjoyed (while on vacation, honeymoon, by the sea, not at work, with or without kids or pets or in-laws, and a stress free time of leisure, as opposed to the hustle and bustle of the workaday life back home) the arrival of wine from Italy in another country and having it taste closer to the way it tasted at source has never had a higher likelihood than ever before. And that definitely is a good direction.
Dissent – From my own experience, many Italians seem to be born with a rebellious streak. Oh yeah, they love the good life – spending August on the beach in Sardegna or Puglia or wherever, eating the freshest seafood and vegetables, pastas with mouthwatering sauces and ingredients – they like living large. But there is this element that says “Yes, it’s good. But let’s break it a little and see if we can make it even better.” And that happens in Italy, all the time.
In wine, it might be to include a heretofore un-thought of grape in their red blend. Or it might be to forego the conventional wisdom of French oak and go back to terracotta amphorae. Why not? It isn’t like we have the same thing to eat every day, is it? “Let’s mix it up,” the collective voice of Italy says, “Maybe it will give birth to greatness?”
We see it in art, in architecture, in design, in fashion, in politics – Italy is a breeding ground for dissent. And while not all initiatives play out to the benefit of the greater good, look where Italy is now. It’s a pretty good place to grow up and live one’s life. And while it does harbor rebellious roots, it also has within those roots a strength that allows for diversion. And that can often be the road to distinction. As Camille Paglia once quipped, “We need more dissent and less dogma.”
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letter “D.”
