True to Terroir + Self Over Trends

As I read about 2019 wine trend predictions, I remember a conversation I had with Wildmakers while senseploring their bodega.

We were drinking Telúrico straight from the barrel. The final product is a 100% Cariñena, aged for 36 months in new French oak*. Completely against the trend (said to continue into 2019) of “fruit-driven, lighter-style reds,” this is a soil-driven glutton. Intense coloring, medium + bodied, and lots of juicy flavors. It’s a wine true to terroir, variety and concept. They know it goes against the grain, but this is the wine they wanted to make.

It’s clearer more now than ever that place comes first. An origin will determine what grapes you can grow and what styles you can make, which may well not fit into whatever box Parker and friends are trying to stick consumers in at the time. So this is just a friendly reminder to go with what the land gives, blend that with your own style and focus on making great wine. Trends ebb and flow and palates are diverse. Besides, isn’t there something exciting about not appealing to the masses?

As Seth Goding says, “The relentless pursuit of mass will make you boring, because mass means average, it means the center of the curve, it requires you to offend no one and satisfy everyone. It will lead to compromises and generalizations.”

*New French oak, of course, is not just one simple style. In Wildmaker’s case, they choose barrels whose staves have spent 36 months weathering to avoid intrusive aromas and flavors. They then fill the barrels with hot water first to fully remove unwanted oak dominance. Cariñena needs time and a new barrel is the ideal way to reveal its identity. Or so they think, which is great because they’re being true to self. And that makes a wine interesting. Conviction.