Changing Identity
There used to be a time when Napa was trying very hard to imitate Bordeaux wines.
In a wine competition in 1976, Napa wines succeeded so well that they were able to
fool a group of 9 French judges, all wine aficionados with credentials representing la
crème de la crème of the French oenology community. The judges were asked to
grade Napa Cabernets against their French counterparts. The results were
astounding. The Napa Cabernets were preferred. This incident, which hit the wine
world like an earthquake was reported by Time Magazine under the heading of “The
Judgment of Paris”. When I think about this, I can’t help but feel suspicious about
foul play. Whether real or fake, no one can deny that Napa winemakers at the time
were trying to imitate their Bordeaux counterparts.
It is incredible how this situation is completely reversing. Napa is no longer imitating
Bordeaux wines. Their wines are no longer 12 – 13% alcohol. They are more like 14 –
15% alcohol with an abundance of fruit flavors and ready to drink when they are still
relatively young. In my last “Tasting with Winemaker” event, a couple of weeks ago,
the subject of my presentation was on the “Aging of Di Arie Wines”. For my
demonstration I used 3 Di Arie wines, 2006 – 2010 vintages. I also included a 1994
Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. To everyone’s surprise, the alcohol level
of this wine was 13.1%. It seems quite obvious that the winemaker of this wine was
trying to imitate a Bordeaux wine.
Bordeaux, on the other hand, trying to catch up with their new world counterparts,
are suddenly reversing old traditions of maintaining specific varieties in a region and
opening up to incorporating additional grape varieties that some of them are quite
obscure. Despite upending generations of tradition, in 2019 France’s Institut National
de l’Origine et de la Qualite (INAO) — the organization that oversees the country’s
AOCs — approved new rules for “grape varieties that can be used in Bordeaux”. As a
refresher, currently, Bordeaux allows six red grape varieties — Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Carmenere, and Petit Verdot. But now, four more
varieties have been approved to join the list: Arinarnoa, Castets, Marselan, and
Touriga Nacional. Is this the beginning of the end of the restrictions that the INAO
has been posing on wine regions in France?
The composition of the 1994 Silver Oak Cabernet was 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10%
Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, just like a typical Bordeaux wine. Coincidentally,
the Di Arie 2008 BDX had the same components, at different levels: 34% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 33% Cabernet Franc and 33% Petit Verdot. There is a reason why the
Bordeaux wine has such a small amount of Petit Verdot. This variety hardly ever
ripens in Bordeaux. On the other hand, my new 2019 BDX, which is being released to
the Gallery Collection Club in September has the following composition: 55%
Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 35% Touriga Nacional. Was this a
coincidence that I used the newly approved Bordeaux variety? The answer is no! I
have been using Touriga Nacional in all my Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Touriga
complements the Cab and elevates it. Cheers!
Chaim,
September 2023