Yet again.
In the never-ending search for more ways to turn wine into milk, we have the latest and greatest in wine technology.
Grape 'x-ray' technology unlocks wine analysis
Speaking of which, I recently got wind of a Martinelli Zin that came in at 17.4% Alc.
The thought of it makes me nauseous.
Grape 'x-ray' technology unlocks wine analysis
The machine, which looks like some sort of teleporting device, uses a process similar to that used by x-ray machines to probe the content and make-up of grapes.At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, is all of this really necessary?
It then takes seconds to send detailed information on colour, acidity, sugar content and maturity to an adjacent computer screen, where the user can see the results on a range of handy graphs.
“It will help winemakers to give consumers what they want. For example, consumers want certain aromas and one of the best ways to get this is by following the colour."Of course, the entire argument brought forth by Mr. Zebic is predicated on the idea that 'consumers' actually know what they want. It is my opinion that the overwhelming majority of 'consumers' have no friggin' clue as to what they want. And as such, putting them in the 'drivers' seat' of creating the aromatic and flavor profiles of a wine seems like an unbelievably bad idea.
“Some countries are more open to innovation than others, such as Chile, Argentina, Australia of course and South Africa. France and Italy need to catch up,” said Zebic.Ummm. In a word....Bullshit.
Another interesting innovation was a machine from Vaslin Bucher capable of reducing the sugar concentration of grapes, enabling firms to reduce a wine's alcohol content by one-to-three degrees.Again, on its face, this sounds like a good idea. But getting back to my Luddite roots, this 'technology' already exists. In fact, it has been around since there have been vines. It's called vendage. That there's fancy French talk for harvest. And the idea, at least at one time, was to pick grapes while they were still grapes, not raisins.
The Michael Paetzold group, based near Bordeaux, also unveiled new technology able to reduce wine alcohol content by around two degrees.
Speaking of which, I recently got wind of a Martinelli Zin that came in at 17.4% Alc.
The thought of it makes me nauseous.
1 Comments:
I think you're right. Most consumers don't know what they want. Further, most good winemakers (that I've met) don't really care what the consumer wants. They have their own vision of what they want their wine to be.
Analysis tools like this will help winemakers to realize their vision, hopefully with less post-harvest tampering. Winemakers watch the grapes change color, and occasionally pop one in their mouth to learn certain things about them. They also subject them to various tests to measure sugar content, and other important variables. This is just another way of monitoring one's crop.
I find it useful to separate the art of winemaking from the craft. Art is about vision and intent. Craft is about how you get there. Good tools make the craft easier. They don't destroy the art. That's for critics, and easily led consumers.
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