Evolution Revolution…

Wine Then & Now!

Everything changes; some things change faster than others. We think of wine as being around forever, and, in one form or another, it has been. I can only imagine humans and wine colliding by accident as a vessel of collected fruit slowly warmed in the corner of a cave. The fruit on top was slowly eaten over several days until the bubbling juice at the bottom was revealed. The caveman, expecting sweet juice, grimaces as he tastes the now sour concoction transformed by spontaneous fermentation. Then magic! He feels a warm glow as his aches and pains dissipate. He feels happier and wants to share his new beverage and food with his clan. They start pounding on logs in a rhythmic drum beat; grunts become harmonies. They then solve all the first cave-world problems, laugh, cry and declare, “I luuv ya!” and the first wine dinner ends with everyone full and happy.

Humans weren’t satisfied with a sour concoction. They wanted a tastier beverage and stumbled upon ways to elevate it through cultivation and winemaking methods, including the use of aging in clay and wood vessels.

Even though the first evidence of winemaking dates from around 6,000 B.C., fine wine is a relatively new idea. The first gathering of wine snobs, The Wine Society of London, was formed in 1874, while the first New World organization, The Sommelier Society of America, was founded in 1954. These organizations set standards for how all fine wines would be judged. But the world changed. It became more technologically proficient with remedial and interventionist winemaking, altering a wine to taste like classic styles or a supercharged caricature of a classic wine. The earth warmed up as climate change, combined with technology, made the vintage concept less important and, in many cases, changed how delicate varieties like Pinot Noir are grown and made into wine. Today’s challenge is to make a wine unique to where it is grown without adding imported ingredients, including French oak barrels, to craft something not necessarily classic but delicious. A wine you want to drink with your clan.

How do you make a unique, pure wine with a sense of place when the technology exists to alter it at will? We decided to set boundaries and concentrate on the fruit itself. Organic is just the beginning. Regenerative farming, based on the ideas of Rudolph Steiner and the biodynamic movement, helps grow delicious fruit that takes little more than attention to craft into a delicious beverage.

It starts with beautiful Pinot Noir from both heirloom (massale) selections and clones grown on RSVnapa’s organically farmed Carneros vineyards. The delicate Pinot Noir is night-harvested and delivered to the cellar naturally chilled. The stems are removed and the fruit is placed into the fermenter for a cool semi-carbonic fermentation where the whole grapes ferment from the inside out for a naturally delicious wine.

Rob Sinskey