Clark Smith
- Thread starter Kay Bixler
- Start date
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Isn't he just 15 years behind us?
(And isn't this article a repudiation of everything he has stood for so far?)
(And isn't this article a repudiation of everything he has stood for so far?)
Kay Bixler
Kay Bixler
I came away with a different impression. He seems to be claiming that the technology he has championed is actually a path to soulful wine. It's like the war equals peace argument. I just can't wrap my head around it.
Florida Jim
Florida Jim
I want that man to sell my wine.
I don't want him to make it.
Best, Jim
I don't want him to make it.
Best, Jim
Nor should you.
For another look at Smith's worldview (with its very own mandala) see here: http://www.grapecrafter.com/grapecrafter/practicinggrapecraft.html
I note that (on my computer, at least) the links promoting micro-ox, de-alc technology, and the use of oak chips are alive and well, but those purporting to discuss vine balance and soil health are dead.
I'm sure that's just a coincidence, though....
Cheers,
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Well, if you're right, he's delusional.
Kay Bixler
Kay Bixler
Or maybe his idea of soulful wine is vastly different than mine, but I'm reserving judgement until I taste. Though it is difficult for me grasp how knocking back the alcohol two or 3 degrees with reverse osmosis and pumping pure oxygen through a vat laced with oak chips wouldn't equal a soulectomy.
On the other hand I find his complete lack of romanticism towards wine kind of refreshing.
On the other hand I find his complete lack of romanticism towards wine kind of refreshing.
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Re the oxygen, there are soulful winemakers who believe that, in some cases, protecting wine from all oxygen at every instant is not the right thing to do.
Part of Smith's verbal art is taking an extreme position on a very nuanced issue.
Part of Smith's verbal art is taking an extreme position on a very nuanced issue.
I wrote a blog post once on a similar-sounding article of Smith's that I'm not going to dig up now, but after doing the classic internet thing of nitckpicking my way through each paragraph to construct some sort of counter-argument, I stepped back and realized that Smith was trying to have it both ways, and that he could probably have written the post I'd just written and believed it almost as much as I did. He talks a pretty good game when it comes to terroir (and, sometimes, viticulture), and seems to himself practice a less interventionist path towards cellar work as -- he claims -- a result of that focus on viticulture, but of course his fortune and fame are both made from the exact opposite: "fixing" in the cellar what was not achieved in the vineyard. I haven't done an extremely close reading of this article, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't more of the same when viewed in detail.
I have to say, I kind of admire the balls required to take such a stance when everyone knows how you made your money. And obviously, he's a smart and articulate guy who can argue a point pretty effectively. But it's a little like listening to Joly laud the farming practices of Archer-Daniels-Midland. One spends as much time trying to figure out what game he's playing than actually listening to what he's saying...and I don't think that's all the listener's fault, either.
In any case, I think he's posted here, hasn't he?
I have to say, I kind of admire the balls required to take such a stance when everyone knows how you made your money. And obviously, he's a smart and articulate guy who can argue a point pretty effectively. But it's a little like listening to Joly laud the farming practices of Archer-Daniels-Midland. One spends as much time trying to figure out what game he's playing than actually listening to what he's saying...and I don't think that's all the listener's fault, either.
In any case, I think he's posted here, hasn't he?
Florida Jim
Florida Jim
I've noticed that the more intelligent and articulate the comments, the more circular the argument.
Which I think says a great deal about the subject.
Best, Jim
mark meyer
mark meyer
Thor, if there is anyone I shouldn't nitpick with it is you-but AFAIK ADM doesn't farm any land.
Now on the RO. We were in Tasmania recently-my first time- and it seems roughly half of the pinot there goes thru RO-and these RO wines are the ones Halliday and other judges always award the gold medals. Not tasting the RO vs nonRO wines side by side-but separately at wineries-I did seem to notice more of a stewed dark fruit character to the RO wines and more acidity and vibrancy to the non RO pinots. Also the RO pinots don't seem to change/improve with age.
I also tasted some dessert RO reislings-up to 139 g. RS. These seemed to taste less sweet than the RS level would suggest.
mark
Claude Kolm
Claude Kolm
You got it perfectly, Mark.
Christian Miller (CMM)
Christian Miller
When you say RO vs. non-RO Pinots, are you referring to RO used to reduce alcohol on a finished wine, or some other usage? And are the RO'd wines made from grapes of the same region and maturity as the non-RO wines, or are they wines that are picked later or come from a hotter vineyard and then RO'd to bring the alcohol back down to non-RO levels?
Claude Kolm
Claude Kolm
Good point. My experience is using RO to remove water, in CA it's usually done to remove alcohol. Interesting, if use in Australia is same as CA (i.e., remove alcohol), it would have same effect as removing water does.
Maybe it's me, but I don't see anything about Clark that qualifies him for "less interventionist path" status.
On his website (grapecraft.com) he's currently offering several wines that owe their structures in part to micro-ox. He's big on oak alternatives, so it's likely that any of the wines (even the high-end ones) that reference oak in the tasting comments are chipped. His "Faux Chablis" has always been an effective marketing tool for his de-alc techniques; while the notes on his current vintage of that wine don't talk about such technologies, I think it reasonable to assume that the practice continues.
Even his "Roman Syrah".... non-sulfured, and therefore one of his standard bearers for non-interventionist winemaking. Back vintages of the Roman Syrah were micro-oxed. I don't know if the current vintage (the '05) was as well. But until hearing otherwise, I think it would be dangerous to assume that the wine was NOT made using micro-ox and oak chips.
If he's talking the intersection of art and technology then I agree he has some interesting things to say (though Jimi Hendrix, Bill Viola, and thousands of others have 'spoken' more eloquently about the subject).
But if he's trying to do the same with technology conjoined with soulful, expressive, terroir-infused winemaking then I'm with Kay.... that's a circle that can't be squared, no matter how articulate he may be.
Regards
I neither want to overstate nor actually defend Smith, but I was thinking of the stuff near the end of this. I didn't say "non-", I said "less." Compared to a number of highly-regarded wines and winemakers in his general neighborhood, that's "less." It doesn't make it other than self-serving marketing manure if that's how you're inclined to view it (for me, it's no more or less so than much of what the capital-N-Natural crew says), but I will admit that whatever he actually does vs. what he says, he does say that an awful lot of what's being done in the cellar -- his techniques or not -- is really about making up for imbalances created by the site and the farming of the site. I think he's right about that. In fact, I think he's very right about that. This despite the fact that to suggest this to many a highly-regarded California producer is to induce sputtering rage at the unimaginable hubris one has just displayed.
The rest of what you (and Kay) write I mostly agree with. There's no getting around the contradictions between word and path.
The rest of what you (and Kay) write I mostly agree with. There's no getting around the contradictions between word and path.
mark meyer
mark meyer
Of course I understood your point-but ADM is a bad example as they are basically a merchandising/processing company. I'm not sure Monsanto is a good example either-we are not talking about genetic altered grapes.