Reflection on the Evolution of the Art of Wine Tasting and a Final Note on Climate Change in the Wine World.
The
advancements in neuroscience and our understanding of how the brain
works are truly remarkable. We often stubbornly try to turn many areas
of knowledge into "objective empirical science," yet as "subjects," we
are inherently "subjective." In a world where it's now possible to even
program in "natural language," I believe it's time to rethink the
supposedly "professional" wine tasting systems... Tasting wines in that
way, if I may use the metaphor, is like analyzing programming code
(Python, JavaScript, HTML...) instead of simply enjoying the beautiful
website.
The Evolution of Wine Tasting
and the Challenges of Climate Change
Abstract:
In this comprehensive exploration, we delve into the evolving concept of
wine tasting over the past 30 years, analyzing how scientific advancements,
particularly in neurobiology, have redefined our approach to understanding
wine. From the traditional French and English analytical tastings to modern
intuitive and geosensory approaches, this text examines the interplay of
sensory perception, individual subjectivity, and the growing role of the brain
in wine appreciation. It also reflects on the profound impact of climate change
on vineyards worldwide, exploring how rising temperatures, erratic weather
patterns, and environmental shifts are reshaping the future of wine production.
Through a blend of scientific insight, sensory analysis, and reflection on the relationship
between wine, memory, and personal experience, this article offers a deep dive
into the challenges and adaptations required to maintain wine's legacy in an
ever-changing world.
6. Redefining the Concept of Wine Tasting
Over the past 30 years, everything has
changed significantly, and the concept of wine tasting is no exception. With
recent scientific discoveries, especially in the field of neurobiology, we now
have many more ways to understand and analyze wine from different perspectives.
In just a few decades, we have moved from seeking objectivity to naturally
embracing the individual subjectivity of each of us. Let’s briefly examine the
evolution of the concept of wine tasting.
6.1. The French Analytical Tasting
To understand the revolution brought about
by the creation and acceptance of the French analytical tasting model, it's
essential to know the historical context. Until the mid-20th century, there was
an active battle against widespread fraud in many areas of the wine world.
Thus, the French A.O.C.( DO, AVA…) were gradually established to link wine to a
specific place of origin and impose strict regulations as a guarantee of
quality. It was a time of renewal, a moment to break with the existing status
quo and create new structures on which to build the new world of wine in
France. In this context, the French analytical tasting emerged.
The French Analytical Tasting, developed
around the same time as the English version in the mid-20th century, emphasized
the supremacy of smell over the other senses, which were relegated to the
background. Its greatest contribution was codifying the language of wine,
creating objective criteria to minimize the subjective factors in tasting,
ensuring that all tasters used the same words to define the same perceptions.
In 1971, the INAO created and popularized a glass that allowed for the
development of aromas, concentrating on the nose. In 1980, Emyle Peynaud, a
long-time professor at the Faculty of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux,
published Le Gout du vin (The
Taste of Wine), where he synthesized all the rigor and objectivity
of French analytical tasting.
6.2. The English Analytical Tasting
The English Analytical Tasting originated
in London in 1953, when a company of wine merchants, the Vintners Company,
created the title of Master of Wine, which remains to this day the most
prestigious individual title in the world of wine. It's an ultra-selective club
of about 400 M.W. (Masters of Wine), and every year, after 5–7 years of
marathon studies, only 5–7 candidates pass out of the 50–100 applicants. In
theory (although we are convinced it is not the case in practice), they are the
best active tasters and those with the most general knowledge of the world of
wine.
The English analytical tasting, unlike the
French, focuses on analyzing only the essential aspects of the wine (structure,
acidity, tannins, texture...), considering it a waste of time to look for more
than three distinct aromas and flavors. They also venture, though cautiously,
into other topics (production methods, the wine's positioning, price…) that are
very important today. Their motto "taste like a detective, argue like a
lawyer" is still highly relevant. Under the prestigious title of Master of
Wine, the English school developed an educational body, the Wine Spirit
Education Trust (WSET), which, through four progressive levels, systematizes
and simplifies all the essential concepts of English analytical tasting,
maintaining a very high and widely recognized standard.
6.3. Intuitive Tasting
Intuitive Tasting, primarily developed by
Franck Thomas, and Geosensory tasting, developed by Jean Michel Deiss in the
first decade of the 21st century, are quite different from the French and
English analytical tastings. These methods incorporate many advances in
neuroscience and philosophy as applied to wine tasting. In intuitive tasting,
it is mandatory to taste with eyes closed and in a black glass, as hiding the
eyes enhances gustatory and olfactory senses and especially intuition. Recent
neuroscience studies confirm this: while sight activates 15% of the cerebral
cortex, smell and taste activate only 1%, so the brain overvalues visual
information, partially inhibiting the other senses. Simply closing the eyes
increases brain activity in the olfactory and gustatory systems and can even
change a person’s taste perception.
Franck Thomas believes that everyone can
taste wine, and their level of skill depends on multiple factors. We should
always approach tasting in a relaxed manner, without tension, to naturally
express our emotions. This is what he did after being named Best Sommelier of
Europe, using the purest and most rigorous analytical method, dissecting
thousands of wines to win competitions. But eventually, he realized it
didn’t make him happy, and all he needed was to convey his emotions. Thus,
in 2012, he created the intuitive tasting method.
6.4. Geosensory Tasting
Geosensory Tasting shares many
similarities with intuitive tasting (e.g., it is also performed blind, but with
two wines compared at a time to better understand their unique qualities and
differences). It emphasizes terroir over industrial wines. The soil defines the
wine's character. Unlike analytical tasting, which uses highly technical and
precise language, geosensory tasting employs informal, easily understood terms
(such as watery, rough, salivating, spherical…) that leave no room for doubt.
In geosensory tasting, gustatory
sensations, rather than olfactory ones as in analytical tastings, are
considered more significant. Given recent neurological advancements, gustatory
sensations are more critical and complex in tasting, particularly tactile
sensations (consistency, graininess…) and salivation when in contact with wine.
In geosensory tasting, as prominent winemakers like Henri Jayer or Gerard
Chave have often said, wine is not for tasting, nor even for smelling, but for
drinking, ideally with food. Unlike analytical tasting, where the various
components of the wine are objectively assessed, seeking out flaws, the
approach in geosensory and intuitive tasting is more holistic, with less
emphasis on details (such as whether the wine is slightly more or less acidic,
or if the color is more or less intense…). The focus is on capturing the
essence of the wine at its origin—the terroir, which determines the wine’s
unique character. Very recently, the University of Strasbourg established a
university diploma called “Toward Wine Terroir via Geosensory Tasting.”
6.5. Global Tasting
At the beginning of the 2000s, Professor
Denis Dubourdieu, founder of the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV) at
the University of Bordeaux, introduced the concept of global tasting. After
decades of defending and practicing analytical tasting, Dubourdieu changed his
view, influenced by the results of a doctoral thesis he supervised by enologist
Frederic Brochet titled La dégustation: étude des représentations
des objets chimiques dans le champ de la conscience (Tasting:
A Study of the Representations of Chemical Objects in the Field of Consciousness). For
the first time, based on several scientific experiments, we became aware
that the brain can override all sensory perceptions, relying, for instance,
on something previously considered secondary—such as the wine’s color—thus
invalidating analytical methods that were based on objectivity. For Axel
Marchal, Dubourdieu’s spiritual successor, global tasting is the most suitable
and effective, as it combines the method and vocabulary of analytical tasting,
the value of terroir from geosensory tasting, and the sensory and
philosophical dimension of intuitive tasting. Each tasting method has its
pros and cons, so it’s beneficial to practice different types of tasting to
view wine from multiple perspectives.
Each taster has their own tasting method
adapted to their character. While Jacques Puisais closes his eyes as
the wine enters his mouth, Daniel Coulon waits 10 seconds after taking a sip to
close his eyes and feel the wine from his heart. Stephane Derenocaurt prefers
geosensory tasting with slight touches of the analytical. Audrey Delbarre, an
independent consultant trained at the RVF Academy, uses all three methods,
beginning with geosensory, followed by intuitive, and finishing with
analytical, as she believes this is the best way to find “the path to
emotions.” Broadly speaking, this is the tasting method I have used in my
day-to-day life for over 25 years, adapting it to my character and experience.
That is crucial—each person must create
their own tasting method. It would have been pointless for me to follow Audrey
Delbarre’s steps, even though we arrived at the same methods and conclusions.
She is a young, brilliant professional who experimented with her cat to analyze
how it reacts to different wine aromas, and in 2020 she published Lancelot,
le chat qui voulait devenir un nez (Lancelot,
the Cat Who Wanted to Have a Nose). However, I am
convinced that with my tasting method, I enjoy and appreciate wine as much as
anyone in the world.
7. The Long Journey of Aromas and Flavors
The long journey of aromas and flavors,
from their origins deep in the soil to when we form a personal evaluation in
our brains, is complex and depends on multiple factors. It’s a fascinating,
mysterious, magical process that remains largely unknown, though thanks to
scientific advances over the last 25/30 years, we are beginning to understand
some aspects that were previously misunderstood.
7.1. The Soil
If we taste grapes from different
varieties, we’ll notice that the gustatory differences between them are
minimal. However, when we taste the wines from these same varieties, the
differences are striking and obvious. Therefore, we might assume that the aromas
of different wines arise during fermentation and aging (secondary and tertiary
aromas) and that varietal aromas (primary) are minor and contribute only
marginally to a wine’s complexity. But it’s the opposite.
Axel Marchal, a professor at the University
of Bordeaux and an aroma specialist, tells us that "if we find grapefruit
aromas in Sauvignon Blanc, it’s because this variety contains the same aromatic
molecules as grapefruit." The terroir (the grape, the soil, the
environment, the climate, the winemaker…) determines the identity of the
complex aromas and the wine's final character. We must ignore simplistic
arguments, even from some professionals, who claim that a wine cannot smell
like raspberries or truffles if there are no raspberries or truffles in the
soil. It’s more complicated than that— “the aromas of a wine are the
manifestation of the compounds synthesized by the vine, which vary according to
the environment.” Mycorrhizae, kilometer-long filaments resembling microscopic
mushrooms that surround the roots, capture nutrients, trace elements, and
minerals and synthesize them so they can be absorbed by the vine’s roots. This
mycorrhizal system is fragile, and the unmoderated use of phytosanitary
products has destroyed it in some cases, which is why the aromatic complexity
of living soils is entirely different from that of chemically treated soils.
Most aromas are not detectable in the grape cluster, but they exist as
precursors that are revealed later during fermentation or aging, like hazelnut
in Chardonnay or raspberry in Pinot Noir. It’s like photography—the quality is
already there the moment you press the shutter, but you only appreciate it when
the photo is developed. The character and identity come from the soil, and
fermentation or aging, if done well, are simply vehicles to reveal the aromas,
allowing them to fully emerge as we perceive them.
7.2. Sight
Once the aromas manifest in the wine, they
still need to be captured and evaluated by the winemaker, the enologist, the
sommelier, or the enthusiast. Wine is a multisensory object that we analyze
through all five of our senses. For decades, we thought sight was a secondary
sense when it came to forming a judgment about a wine, but over the past 20
years, we have realized it has extreme importance. Gabriel Lepousez, a
neurobiologist specializing in sensory perception and brain plasticity at the
Pasteur Institute, confirms that the color of wine significantly influences our
brains, which are very impressionable. The brain often forms a judgment based
solely on color, then searches for the right words to confirm its belief, which
may be accurate or completely wrong. The solution to this is blind tasting.
These claims were scientifically confirmed
through two illustrative experiments conducted at the University of Bordeaux by
Denis Dubourdieu and Frederic Brochet in 2001 and 2003. In the first, they
presented two wines, one white and one red, which were actually the same wine,
with one tinted with a natural colorant that didn’t alter its smell or taste.
When describing the wines, enology students, influenced solely by color,
described them as two entirely different wines. For the white, they mentioned
white flowers, acidity, freshness… while for the red, they spoke of red and
black fruits, tannins, structure… In 2003, they presented a wine from a Tetra
Brik made by a Bordeaux cooperative, which second-year students rated 5/20.
Fifteen days later, they presented the same wine bottled as a Bordeaux Cru
Classé, and 6 out of 57 students identified it as the same wine. The average
score in this case was 15/20. This demonstrated that appearance and packaging
also strongly influence the brain, which prejudges even before tasting.
7.3. Smell
Smell has historically been the most
important sense in tasting any wine, though in the last 15/20 years, taste and
the brain itself have become equally or even more decisive. Let’s look at how
aromas travel through our sense of smell, and, importantly, how we can train
our sense of smell to become better and more efficient.
Wine can convey hundreds of aromas, from
red fruits to rose petals, from lychee to spices, leather… But, as Axel Marchal
explains, "these are actually very light molecules that aren’t fully
present in the wine, but as they are more or less volatile and more or less
aromatic, when they come into contact with the air, they rise into the space
between the surface of the wine and the edge of the glass.” We place our nose
into the glass, and “the molecules stimulate our nasal receptors, which quickly
send the information to the olfactory bulb, located in our brain.”
Wine doesn’t consist of just one aroma—on
the contrary, its complexity results from the association of multiple scents.
The brain is responsible for selecting and distinguishing each of them.
Olfactory perception is a complex phenomenon involving many parts of the brain.
A single molecule can interact with several receptors, or several molecules can
interact with one receptor. Each molecule has its own characteristics, but when
two molecules appear together, the resulting aroma is not simply the sum of the
two—it’s an entirely new aroma. Much like in the world of perfumes (where there
are 300–400 perfumes), but in the world of wine, there are millions. It’s
exciting to think that this complex process happens naturally every time we
drink a bottle of wine.
And the brain often makes mistakes. Just
as with sight, with smell, the brain prejudges and anticipates what it will
perceive. It draws conclusions, which can be wrong, based on its experience.
For example, we smell a Muscat wine and immediately assume it’s sweet, even if
it’s completely dry, simply because our brain associates that aroma with sweet
wines, as historically, most Muscats we’ve tasted have been sweet.
Moreover, the aromas of any wine are not
fixed at all. In contact with air and external temperature, they change minute
by minute, to the point where the wine can transform so much that it seems like
several different wines. The amount of wine in the glass also plays a role. If
there is very little liquid in the glass, oxidation is more intense,
accentuating faults such as vegetal notes and oak. However, one of the elements
that most significantly alters the expression of a wine is the glass itself.
Depending on its shape, size, length, and thickness, the wine will transmit
different aromas, to the point where the same wine in three different glasses
can seem like three different wines. In 1973, the Riedel brand introduced the
Sommelier series, marking the first time that each variety had its own glass.
Since then, there have been extraordinary glasses from many brands (Zalto,
Spiegelau, Sydonios, Schott Zwiesel…), so much so that now, with so much
choice, the challenge is knowing which glass is best for each wine.
Smell is a sense that can be trained, and
with a thoughtful and pre-established plan, the results are usually quite good
and relatively quick. Here are some simple exercises to help.
The first is learning to listen to what
the wine is telling you. Always in a calm, unhurried state, tasting blind,
start by comparing two wines (one terroir-driven and one industrial), then
three (a white, a rosé, and a red) ... and dare to write down your sensations
and emotions, even if they are disjointed words. Try not to pass any judgment
or try to guess the wine. Little by little, you’ll start distinguishing between
simple wines and complex wines—the former will leave you indifferent and
quickly be forgotten, while the latter will move you and remain in your memory.
The second is to improve your
sensitivity to aromas. In L’Ecole de la
dégustation published in 2013, Pierre Casamayor suggests that as
a first exercise, we can close our eyes and think of the aroma of a rose, and
gradually, we can even “dream of aromas.” When we repeatedly smell the same
aroma, we eventually come to know it and differentiate it from others. The best
way to start is with aromatic families, like flowers, fruits..., and you can
deepen your knowledge by visiting a local market, a botanical garden..., and of
course, using Le Nez du Vin aroma
kit.
The third is identifying aromas by
association. Smell is a fundamentally associative sense, as we usually associate
any scent with an emotion, memory, image, or sensation. The more extensive
our olfactory library (which, logically, is stored in our memory), the easier
it will be to make these mental associations. A great sommelier is an expert at
distinguishing and organizing aromas thanks to their vast memory of associations,
which they use to then make a precise judgment about a wine’s aromatic profile.
7.4. Taste
While smell gives us some information
about the wine’s quality, the real flood of sensations occurs when the wine
enters our mouth. The wine warms up in our oral cavity, coats our tongue, is
aerated by the slight amount of air entering through our lips, and mixes with
our saliva, triggering new olfactory sensations in the retronasal area. Three
senses (smell, taste, and touch) work together, multiplying the sensations,
and all this information is immediately processed by the brain.
This information is complex. You might
think that the olfactory sensations detected by the nose should match those
from tasting the wine via the retronasal passage, since it’s the same wine in
your mouth. But that’s not the case. Gabriel Lepousez, a researcher at the
Pasteur Institute, explains that “the nature of the aromas captured by the nose
and retronasally are not the same, and the taster may feel like they are
tasting two different wines. But we don’t have two separate olfactory
systems—it’s simply that the wine changes as it passes through the mouth.”
In contact with the tongue and the oral walls, we activate the sense of touch.
The tongue is a highly sensitive organ, possessing 20% of our body’s tactile
sense. The taste buds on the tongue detect the wine’s flavors (sweet, salty,
bitter, sour, and umami) and its texture (the tannins, astringency…).
For more than 20 years, it has been
scientifically proven that the classic map of the tongue (with sweetness
perceived at the front, sourness on the sides, and bitterness at the back) is
completely false. Axel Marchal reminds us that “there are no general rules:
each person’s tongue map is unique. Sensitive areas exist, but not
exclusively for each person.” All tastes are detected across the entire tongue.
The three types of papillae (fungiform, foliate, and circumvallate, from the
tip of the tongue toward the palate) perceive the five tastes with relatively
little variation in intensity. Therefore, we can confirm that the classic map
of the tongue doesn’t exist. It became popular in the 1940s when American Edwin
Boring translated or misinterpreted the studies of German scientist David
Maring, who, in the early 20th century, mentioned that taste buds were not
completely homogeneous and thus had slight variations in sensitivity.
Fortunately, in 2000, the functioning of taste receptors across the entire tongue
was discovered. Can you imagine what happened when, in the first half of the
20th century, they discovered the fifth taste, umami, and the tongue was
already filled with the other tastes? Since there was no available space,
they placed it right in the center of the tongue, in the only gap.
Fortunately, thanks to science, all of this has been clarified for the past 25
years, though many still insist on a completely false map of the tongue,
ignoring what scientists have long disproved.
In the mouth, flavors don’t reach the same
intensity or last the same amount of time. The maximum perception of sweetness
occurs at 5 seconds and almost disappears after 10 seconds. Acidity is
perceived more intensely, reaching its peak at 8–10 seconds and lasting more
than 40 seconds. Bitterness, with a similar intensity to acidity, is the
slowest to develop, becoming noticeable at 20–25 seconds and the last to
disappear, lingering for 60–80 seconds. It’s good practice to analyze the
coexistence and evolution of the three main tastes: sweetness, acidity, and
bitterness, as they differ in intensity and persistence. If you pay close
attention, you can enjoy how the wine evolves through its three phases (the
attack or initial impression, the mid-palate, and the finish) and finally
measure its persistence, calculating in seconds (or in wine terms, caudalie)
how long the aromas and flavors remain in your mouth (or rather in your mind)
after swallowing or spitting out the wine.
Jerome Baudouin reminds us that “touching
with your tongue is like touching with your fingers.” This often underrated
fourth sense is crucial to understanding a wine’s structure. As with
other foods, wine also conveys a great deal of tactile information to the taste
buds. To see the significant differences between wines, think about how you
feel, in terms of texture, when drinking a powerful Madiran, a Cotes du
Rhone, and a light Beaujolais. It’s like running a burlap cloth, a cotton
cloth, and velvet through your mouth. But how and why do we experience these
sensations?
Saliva plays a vital role, much more
important than you might initially think. It’s easy to understand that the wine
you drink is always a mix of wine and saliva, and this blend is what our brain
ultimately evaluates. Saliva is a visco-elastic gel made up mainly of water,
but also minerals and numerous proteins that create a lubricating and
protective film, providing a smooth and fluid texture to the surface of the
mouth. When in contact with saliva, the tannins in the wine progressively break
down the protective salivary film, causing the proteins in the saliva to
precipitate and clump together. The extent of this depends on the nature and
concentration of the tannins. As a result, the initial contact between wine and
the mouth’s mucous membrane is smooth and fluid, but as the wine (really the
mix of wine and saliva) progresses toward the palate, the surface becomes
rougher, sometimes to the point where we describe the texture as astringent.
Ultimately, thanks to the sense of touch, the tongue, and saliva, we can assess
the tannic structure and granularity of the wine.
If smell was the principal sense
underpinning both French and English analytical tastings, in intuitive and
geosensory tastings, the crucial element is the interaction between taste,
smell, and touch that we experience when we hold wine in our mouths. Describing
olfactory sensations detected by the nose is relatively easy with good
training, but the gustatory-tactile-olfactory perceptions in the mouth are far
more complex and difficult to convey. While I am convinced that global and
individually adapted tasting is the best way to advance in this complex field, I
have yet to meet a single taster who has moved from intuitive and geosensory
tasting to analytical tasting, whereas thousands start with the analytical
concept and gradually shift to intuitive and geosensory tasting. It’s
simply the brain’s natural progression, from unrealistic and supposed
objectivity to natural and complex subjectivity.
7.5. The Brain
The brain is the most intimate, secretive,
and mysterious organ of the human body. Each brain is a mystery—unique and
different in every person. While we have made significant advances in
understanding how the brain functions over the past 50 years, we still know
very little about its complexity. During tasting, the various senses
automatically send all their perceptions to the brain. There isn’t a specific
part of the brain that processes these perceptions; rather, they are
transmitted through complex neural networks that simultaneously connect to our
memory, constructing a personal judgment about the wine based on our
experience. At every moment, without pause, new sensations are sent to the
brain from the senses, interacting with memory and experience, and with the
impression the brain had formed of the wine just seconds before. This continues
until we finish the glass of wine.
From this perspective, as some strict
neurobiologists argue, the evaluation of any wine is entirely subjective
and depends solely on our brain. Fortunately, other less strict
neurobiologists consider that while the brain is critical in tasting, there
is an objective component based on the senses, which depends on the experience
and character of each taster. Earlier, we discussed how the brain can be
easily manipulated by the wine’s color or by associating an aroma with an
incorrect taste. In all these cases, a professional taster will quickly realize
the brain’s error.
Barry C. Smith, author of the book Questions
of Taste: The Philosophy of Wine, published in 2007
and current director of the Center for the Study of the Senses (CenSes) at the
University of London, explains that according to neuroscientists, humans
don’t just have five senses as traditionally thought, but between 22 and 33.
Additionally, the senses are not independent, as was believed since Aristotle’s
time, but are interconnected, and these interconnections determine how the
brain functions and the conclusions it draws.
In laboratory experiments comparing the
brains of sommeliers and amateurs, the sensory perceptions of a sommelier while
tasting wine are sent directly to a very specific part of the brain, where they
quickly analyze the wine and form a judgment. In amateurs, sensory perceptions
are processed more slowly and diffusely, engaging different areas of the brain,
primarily emotional ones, constructing a more global image of the wine. The
amateur knows whether they like a wine more or less, but they won’t be able to
assess the wine’s quality, longevity, or compare it to other wines from the
same vintage or different vintages of that wine—judgments typically made by a
sommelier who has enough experience to reach those conclusions.
But anyone can progress from being an
amateur to becoming a professional sommelier by traveling, reading, listening,
tasting, and thinking. Nothing is predetermined or unchangeable—everything
can change. It’s essential to choose the right teachers and companions who will
guide you on your journey, where you will experience wine from a much
broader perspective, intertwining philosophy, history, culture, economics,
religion, chemistry, aesthetics, ethics… and a thousand other things. Wine
is a multisensory object of perception where multiple disciplines and
perspectives converge, and tasting is simply something magical and fascinating.
It’s also true that not everyone has the same capacity for learning and
expression, the same memory, or the same persistence. But it’s important to
know that we can all progress and experience wine in a more consistent,
intense, and hedonistic way.
But how does this learning translate into
everyday life? There are many ways (dissecting, comparing, sharing,
evaluating…) to advance in wine tasting, and in all of them, it’s helpful to
have a good teacher.
Dissecting means analyzing the defects and
virtues of all the essential aspects of a wine. It means more than just saying
whether you like it or not—seeing beyond the hedonistic side. Think of an
orchestra—a beginner hears only a single sound, while an expert can hear and
evaluate each musician separately and together. Comparative tasting of two
well-chosen wines is useful and effective in quickly appreciating the
differences between them, whether in terms of aromas, flavors, textures… We
learn and progress much more by experiencing it than by reading about it or
having it explained to us. Sharing the tasting with a good companion helps us
advance more quickly—sometimes one plus one doesn’t equal two but three. One
brain expresses what it feels, and the other responds based on what it feels
and what its companion said. This process continues, feeding back on itself and
deepening to levels we thought impossible. Evaluating means daring to express
what we feel and think, little by little but steadily, calmly, without fear.
After doing it a hundred times, it will come naturally, without any effort.
Although every day we learn more about the
brain, it remains the great unknown. It’s here, inside each of our heads, and
it’s irreplaceable. It and our senses determine our relationship with wine in
all its aspects. For some of us, wine is the passion and joy of our lives.
Reflecting on all of this, even if it’s not easy to reach conclusions, can only
serve to enhance our knowledge, and, without even realizing it, make us a
little happier day by day.
8. Climate Change
Climate change exists—it’s scientifically
undeniable. In the past 30 years, the effects of these climatic disruptions on
vineyards and wine have been dramatic, changing the status quo in unimaginable
ways. We only need to compare wines from 4–5 decades ago with those of today,
and the differences leave no room for doubt. These aren’t just words—they’re
realities. From the 1980s and 1990s to today, the harvest has advanced by 2 to
6 weeks, and alcohol levels have increased by 2 to 3°C. Vineyards are now being
planted in Sweden and Tibet at 3,500 meters in elevation, frosts have destroyed
five out of the last ten vintages in the Loire, and heatwaves in Languedoc have
exceeded 50°C. Regardless of denialist or alarmist discourses, the real
question is whether the vineyard can adapt to such radical changes in such a
short time. Faced with these challenges, wineries must evolve quickly, and the
only way to stay in business is to introduce as many changes as necessary.
Climatologists are categorical about the
rising temperatures, predicting an increase of 2°C by 2050 and 4°C by 2100. But
there are other associated climate risks: frost, hail, torrential rains,
heatwaves, wildfires… It’s been shown that as temperatures rise, the risk of
frost increases by 40% for every 2°C increase. With such mild winters, the
vine’s vegetative cycle starts 4–5 weeks earlier, and frosts become more
destructive. There’s a significant economic difference between having a frost
once every 10–15 years versus one every two years. In the face of climate
change, wineries must adapt to the new conditions: uproot parcels that are most
vulnerable to frost and drought, protect vineyards with anti-hail nets or
anti-frost wind machines, plant new varieties, introduce irrigation, insure
production, and adjust prices to account for crop losses.
Rainfall is a more complex issue because,
regardless of the amount of rain, climate change has intensified excess
rainfall in the North (this year, Rias Baixas will exceed 3,000 liters) and
extreme drought periods in the South. On top of that, it no longer rains when
the vines need it. If a vineyard needs at least 450 liters of water per year to
produce quality grapes and be economically viable, many Mediterranean regions
barely reach 200 liters, and the outlook is worsening. If wineries cannot add
value to their wine by raising prices (and it seems impossible to increase
yield), the only solution is to uproot the vines and grow something else, like
cactus or tourists. Experts suggest that, as the best wineries are already
doing, viticulture and varieties should be changed first, and if necessary,
irrigation introduced, with the changes that entails for the wine’s character
and quality, provided it’s even possible to do so (impossible in several
Southern regions where vines are dying, and water restrictions are beginning to
be implemented, even for drinking).
Climate change is redrawing the world’s
wine map, in Europe and elsewhere. Vineyards are moving North. Vineyards in
Brittany, Normandy, Belgium, and England are becoming common, and these are no
longer experimental projects but large-scale investments in thousands of
hectares. Some climate predictions even suggest that Brittany will have a
Mediterranean climate by 2100. In historic vineyards, equally threatened by
climate risks, planting is beginning on plateaus and north-facing slopes, where
20–30 years ago, grapes couldn’t ripen, and thus remained unplanted. It’s hard
to imagine what will become of today’s emblematic vineyards, with traditions
spanning hundreds or thousands of years, in 40–50 years.
Changing grape varieties is a sensitive
issue. It’s possible to switch to vines chosen for their precocity, drought
resistance, and sugar production. There are more than 6,000 options worldwide,
but culturally it’s very complicated. Can you imagine a Romanée-Conti without
Pinot Noir, a Montrachet without Chardonnay, an Hermitage without Syrah, El
Pisón without Tempranillo, or Casa Castillo Pie Franco without Monastrell?
While some D.O./A.O.C. already allow a percentage of experimental varieties
(which we’ll see how they perform in a few years), high-end wineries stick
exclusively to the original variety, adjusting pruning methods, harvest dates,
and winemaking processes.
It’s inevitable to wonder how the taste of
wines will change in the future. If terroirs are altered due to climate change,
so will the wines. Rising temperatures lead to earlier and disrupted ripening,
with a greater imbalance between acidity, sugar, and tannins, generally
resulting in less acidic wines with higher alcohol content (in Bordeaux,
alcohol levels have risen by 2–3°C in 25 years, and obviously, a wine with
12.5% ABV is different from one with 15.00°C). On the other hand, the global
trend is moving in the opposite direction—toward drinking lighter, fresher
wines. Wineries face a significant challenge in adapting viticulture and
winemaking practices. This will be the great challenge of the coming decades,
as they’ll have to work hard to balance two opposing trends. On the one hand,
wines are becoming more alcoholic and less acidic due to climate change. On the
other, consumers are naturally gravitating toward lighter, more fluid wines,
reflecting today’s lifestyle. We’re at a crossroads—let’s hope everything turns
out well.
