The Volatility Manifesto

[Oswaldo Costa]

A spectre is haunting the natural wine world, the spectre of volatile acidity.

The spectre has a supply side and a demand side.

The supply side:

The otherwise laudable use of minimal or no SO2 leaves grapes and musts unprotected

A nearly uninterrupted string of dismal weather has caused widespread rot

The tiny acreage of most artisanal producers reduces the incentive for rigorous triage

The otherwise laudable use of old barrels that may be insufficiently cleaned between uses

The growth of laissez-faire winemaking, including insufficient cellar hygiene and long barrel ageing in oxidative conditions

The growth of artisanal producers in cheaper and hotter climates where bacteria proliferate faster

A disincentive to discard spoilage when there’s a public for it, especially in Scandinavia

The demand side:

Growth in number of natural wine importers who chase the hip and can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile

Growth in number of natural wine label drinkers who chase the hip and can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile

Professionals specializing in natural wine have little incentive to combat the spectre because that would dramatically reduce their supply (while most customers can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile)

The occasional usefulness of moderate v.a. in warm climate wines lacking non-volatile acidity

The particular insensitivity to v.a. of Scandinavians, possibly due to the vinegary and fermented food that is currently (and otherwise deservedly) fashionable

The intersection of ample supply conditions with ample demand conditions generates the perfect spectre.

The non-trivial correlation between natural winemaking and non-trivial v.a. gives natural wines a bad name.

But let no one speak of this, for there’s a lot of money riding on silence.

Party poopers are not invited for cocktails, so let's carry on pretending that these are the days of miracle and wonder and don’t cry, baby, don’t cry.

 

[Tristan Welles]

But is it a loose affiliation?

Yes.

 

[MarkS]

Are cheaper climates based in shithole countries?

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by MarkS:
Are cheaper climates based in shithole countries?

I don't think he'd call Australia a shithole country.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Tristan Welles:
But is it a loose affiliation?

Yes.

If by affiliation you mean correlation, it is not a necessary one (perhaps my main point), but it is a very frequent one.

 

[Jayson Cohen]

Trouble maker.

 

[MarkS]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:

originally posted by MarkS:
Are cheaper climates based in shithole countries?

I don't think he'd call Australia a shithole country.

But what is a "cheaper climate"? A climate is what it is and cannot be expensive or inexpensive, as it has no meaning.

 

[robert ames]

originally posted by MarkS:
Are cheaper climates based in shithole countries?

ask trump.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
The Volatility ManifestoA spectre is haunting the natural wine world, the spectre of volatile acidity.

The spectre has a supply side and a demand side.

The supply side:

The otherwise laudable use of minimal or no SO2 leaves grapes and musts unprotected

A nearly uninterrupted string of dismal weather has caused widespread rot

The tiny acreage of most artisanal producers reduces the incentive for rigorous triage

The otherwise laudable use of old barrels that may be insufficiently cleaned between uses

The growth of laissez-faire winemaking, including insufficient cellar hygiene and long barrel ageing in oxidative conditions

The growth of artisanal producers in cheaper and hotter climates where bacteria proliferate faster

A disincentive to discard spoilage when there’s a public for it, especially in Scandinavia

The demand side:

Growth in number of natural wine importers who chase the hip and can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile

Growth in number of natural wine label drinkers who chase the hip and can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile

Professionals specializing in natural wine have little incentive to combat the spectre because that would dramatically reduce their supply (while most customers can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile)

The occasional usefulness of moderate v.a. in warm climate wines lacking non-volatile acidity

The particular insensitivity to v.a. of Scandinavians, possibly due to the vinegary and fermented food that is currently (and otherwise deservedly) fashionable

The intersection of ample supply conditions with ample demand conditions generates the perfect spectre.

The non-trivial correlation between natural winemaking and non-trivial v.a. gives natural wines a bad name.

But let no one speak of this, for there’s a lot of money riding on silence.

Party poopers are not invited for cocktails, so let's carry on pretending that these are the days of miracle and wonder and don’t cry, baby, don’t cry.

I believe we share a similar affinity for natural wines and decisive aversion to VA. I will respectfully disagree about Scandinavia. I think your impression is based on the sort of places we eat and drink, but I don't think you can draw any wider conclusions. In fact, I don't think most people here (I live in Oslo) like fermented and acidic food. I do think there is a generation gap: younger drinkers (not us) who have been weaned on kombucha and cocktails made with shrubs either have much less of an aversion to VA or actually like it.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by MarkS:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:

originally posted by MarkS:
Are cheaper climates based in shithole countries?

I don't think he'd call Australia a shithole country.

But what is a "cheaper climate"? A climate is what it is and cannot be expensive or inexpensive, as it has no meaning.

Gotcha, I meant it in the sense of climat. Places like the south of France where land tends to be cheaper to buy or rent compared to the cooler middle, where there is less chance of loss to frost or hail, and where there is more sunshine for grapes to reach full maturity. For aspiring natural winemakers with little cash to spend, these warmer places usually represent a smaller outlay, whether just buying grapes or land. Napa is more the exception than the rule.

 

[MLipton]

VA is a lot like Brett: people’s sensitivities differ markedly and in low quantity both can be viewed as positive attributes. At low levels, a little VA can give a wine a “lifted” or “high toned” nose, which some tasters might find appealing.

Mark Lipton

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
The Volatility ManifestoA spectre is haunting the natural wine world, the spectre of volatile acidity.

The spectre has a supply side and a demand side.

The supply side:

The otherwise laudable use of minimal or no SO2 leaves grapes and musts unprotected

A nearly uninterrupted string of dismal weather has caused widespread rot

The tiny acreage of most artisanal producers reduces the incentive for rigorous triage

The otherwise laudable use of old barrels that may be insufficiently cleaned between uses

The growth of laissez-faire winemaking, including insufficient cellar hygiene and long barrel ageing in oxidative conditions

The growth of artisanal producers in cheaper and hotter climates where bacteria proliferate faster

A disincentive to discard spoilage when there’s a public for it, especially in Scandinavia

The demand side:

Growth in number of natural wine importers who chase the hip and can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile

Growth in number of natural wine label drinkers who chase the hip and can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile

Professionals specializing in natural wine have little incentive to combat the spectre because that would dramatically reduce their supply (while most customers can’t distinguish non-volatile from volatile)

The occasional usefulness of moderate v.a. in warm climate wines lacking non-volatile acidity

The particular insensitivity to v.a. of Scandinavians, possibly due to the vinegary and fermented food that is currently (and otherwise deservedly) fashionable

The intersection of ample supply conditions with ample demand conditions generates the perfect spectre.

The non-trivial correlation between natural winemaking and non-trivial v.a. gives natural wines a bad name.

But let no one speak of this, for there’s a lot of money riding on silence.

Party poopers are not invited for cocktails, so let's carry on pretending that these are the days of miracle and wonder and don’t cry, baby, don’t cry.

I believe we share a similar affinity for natural wines and decisive aversion to VA. I will respectfully disagree about Scandinavia. I think your impression is based on the sort of places we eat and drink, but I don't think you can draw any wider conclusions. In fact, I don't think most people here (I live in Oslo) like fermented and acidic food. I do think there is a generation gap: younger drinkers (not us) who have been weaned on kombucha and cocktails made with shrubs either have much less of an aversion to VA or actually like it.

Granted, the idea that greater Scandinavian tolerance comes from their food culture is a hypothesis, but Marcia and I have never encountered v.a. as frequently as we did during our twenty days there. Plus the ITBs we spoke to about this said that either they don't notice it or they like it. One somm even said that the more natural the producer, the more v.a. their wines will have. It all reminds me of Emmanuel Giboulot's comment in Between the Vines:

In countries like Denmark, for example, there’s a big fashion for natural wines. When I say natural, I mean more-than-natural! I had an evening with some Danes the other day. The guys were raving about the stuff we were served, while for me it was obvious that it was cider, it could not be wine. Jean-Marc Roulot recently told me that his importer was having a hard time with some restaurants because they only want very, very natural wines. For me, the concept of natural wine depends on how you define it. Does it mean natural production, meaning organic and biodynamic? And then, in the cellar, being as respectful as possible, avoiding a certain number of things? If that’s it, there are people who put me in this natural category, and that suits me. But if the definition of natural is to be reduced, oxidized, and full of Brett, then I don’t think I make natural wines. In Paris, I saw trendy sommeliers, guys who are supposed to be taste makers, putting their nose into your wine and saying: “Oh, okay, you put sulfur.” They’re so used to finding volatile acidity and Brett that when they no longer have it, something is wrong. And since consumption and trend-setting, today, happen in Paris, these people are influential.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by MLipton:
VA is a lot like Brett: people’s sensitivities differ markedly and in low quantity both can be viewed as positive attributes. At low levels, a little VA can give a wine a “lifted” or “high toned” nose, which some tasters might find appealing.

Mark Lipton

Yes, I say above that it can mask the absence of more desirable kinds of acidity and I agree that small quantities can help as a condiment.

As for people’s differing sensitivities, the rampant Scandinavian experience made the v.a. footprint so strong in both Marcia and my sensitivities that we started to notice it much more in our everyday wines drunk at home, so I suspect that many who think they are not very sensitive to it have just not learned to distinguish it from other kinds of acidity. Mark E told me that he only became sensitive to it after sommelier training, and presumably professionals must develop the ability. But in Scandinavia, such an ability may actually be a liability.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
Trouble maker.

Stir It Up

 

[Todd Abrams]

originally posted by mark e:
I do think there is a generation gap: younger drinkers (not us) who have been weaned on kombucha and cocktails made with shrubs either have much less of an aversion to VA or actually like it.

I believe the trend of sour candy over the past decade or more factors into the taste preferences of the younger generation of wine drinkers. You see it in craft brewing and cocktails as well.

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by Todd Abrams:

originally posted by mark e:
I do think there is a generation gap: younger drinkers (not us) who have been weaned on kombucha and cocktails made with shrubs either have much less of an aversion to VA or actually like it.

I believe the trend of sour candy over the past decade or more factors into the taste preferences of the younger generation of wine drinkers. You see it in craft brewing and cocktails as well.

Yet there is also still no shortage of sweetness/sugar in commercial products of all kinds.

Not sure how one could draw these causal chains. But interesting to ponder.

 

[Bill Lundstrom]

i don't know, i always a felt the younger crowd (20's and 30's) identified with natural wine, no matter how volatile or bretty or mousey or whatever, as a way to distance themselves from the more stereotypical "wine snob" crowd. they seem kind of hell bent on convincing themselves and everyone else that cidery , volatile wine is real wine and us old guys don't know what we're missing.
i doubt it had anything to do with sour, sugary candy they enjoyed as kids.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
i don't know, i always a felt the younger crowd (20's and 30's) identified with natural wine, no matter how volatile or bretty or mousey or whatever, as a way to distance themselves from the more stereotypical "wine snob" crowd. they seem kind of hell bent on convincing themselves and everyone else that cidery , volatile wine is real wine and us old guys don't know what we're missing.
i doubt it had anything to do with sour, sugary candy they enjoyed as kids.

A triumph of Marketing over actual taste. Achievable in many fields of endeavor.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
i don't know, i always a felt the younger crowd (20's and 30's) identified with natural wine, no matter how volatile or bretty or mousey or whatever, as a way to distance themselves from the more stereotypical "wine snob" crowd. they seem kind of hell bent on convincing themselves and everyone else that cidery , volatile wine is real wine and us old guys don't know what we're missing.
i doubt it had anything to do with sour, sugary candy they enjoyed as kids.

And if you rail against v.a. you become an old fogey who just doesn't "get" natural wines.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:

originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
i don't know, i always a felt the younger crowd (20's and 30's) identified with natural wine, no matter how volatile or bretty or mousey or whatever, as a way to distance themselves from the more stereotypical "wine snob" crowd. they seem kind of hell bent on convincing themselves and everyone else that cidery , volatile wine is real wine and us old guys don't know what we're missing.
i doubt it had anything to do with sour, sugary candy they enjoyed as kids.

And if you rail against v.a. you become an old fogey who just doesn't "get" natural wines.

Yup. Especially where I live.