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It has come to my attention that I have been using the term "authentic" again and again in my column and in wine descriptions lately, in all conceivable paraphrases and variations: credible, certain, infallible, genuine, reliable, dependable, vouched for, unadulterated, unaffected, characteristic, actual, natural, not imitated, original... I wonder why? Why is "authentic" increasingly becoming a key term in describing and judging wines? Can it be that one wine is becoming more and more like another; that grape varieties, cultivation methods, vinification right up to marketing follow a barely defined but latently present model?

Mainstream - the streamlined form is part of it (Photo: Peter Züllig)

The ominous term "terroir" - rarely precisely defined - has long since taken root in wine language. "Terroir wines", for example, whatever is understood by it, has become a seal of quality. A counter-pool, as it were, to the terms "internationality" or "mainstream", which have become equally entrenched in wine criticism. I, too, have not been spared this trend in formulations, right into my thinking. On my journey through the vast Languedoc vineyards - almost 300 kilometres at an hourly pace of eight kilometres - "authenticity" has virtually become a phantom. In the last column I wrote: "Some winegrowers, including cooperatives, have realised: There is a market between the simple wines and the mostly outdated fashionable wines - there is the market of the good terroir wine: independent grape variety, careful work in the vineyard, traditional and clean vinification and no squinting at what is fashionable at the moment."

Presentation of the "Caves Richemer" cooperative of Marseillan and Agde (Photo: Peter Züllig)

It all sounds so simple. In Languedoc, it includes - for example - the grape varieties Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Carignan and Cinsault for the reds; Grenache Blanc, Macabeu, Viognier, Chardonnay, Roussanne, Marsanne, Clairette, Ugni Blanc, Rolle and Bourboulenc for the whites. The red wines are dominated by a blend of three to four of the AOC grape varieties recognised here. The result is the "typical" or "authentic" red Languedoc wine. The winemaker still has a lot of leeway to create his own personal, independent wine. This includes the soil conditions, the climate, the work in the vineyard, the proportion of the individual grape varieties, the type of vinification, the use of wood, the ageing in barrels or tanks, etc. All these possibilities - and a few more - leave the winemaker a lot of room to create his own personal wine. All these possibilities - and a few more - can and may be exhausted to bring "authentic wines" from the South of France to the market in a great variety. But this - as in almost all wine regions - has long since ceased to be enough, at least not for the winemakers and unfortunately not for the consumers either. People are crying out - especially in the Languedoc, which does not have the reputation of Bordeaux or Burgundy - for more Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, but also for wood ageing, more incisive aromas of cassis, black and red berries, for more impact, power and volume.

High-tech in the wine cellar (Photo: Peter Züllig)

At the "largest open-air wine fair", a fortnight ago in Cap d'Agde (on the Mediterranean), about 80 regional and local winegrowers presented their wines over three days. I looked and listened carefully, I tasted some and discussed a lot. The trend is clear - people say the first part of a thought openly: "Our wines have to be sold better", but the second part is usually kept quiet: "We therefore have to pay much more attention to the customers and their wishes." This is clearly understood to mean: "We need more mainstream, especially more popular grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir." The range of Vin de Pays d'Oc, i.e. non-AOC-approved wines, is growing by leaps and bounds. Without trendy varieties, barriques, without a concentrator and high-tech in the cellar, it is not possible - according to the conviction of many cooperatives (but also winegrowers) - to make "good" (i.e. saleable) wine. Even the "organic label" and all the wine-technical extravagances (such as burying amphorae, playing music, storing in tunnels, etc.) serve more for marketing than for improving the wines.

Marketing at the "largest open-air wine fair" in Cap d'Agde (Photo: Peter Züllig)

The laws of marketing have long since clouded the consciousness for "authentic" wines. Not only in the Languedoc. But because these laws are (more or less) global and the know-how of "modern viticulture" is marketed just like the wines themselves, more and more similar - dare I say similar - wines are being produced, be it in the Bordelais, in the Languedoc, in Australia, in Italy, in South Africa, in California. I noticed this a long time ago, not just now in the south of France. Even in the Bordelais, which presents itself as so self-confident and independent, they are riding this wave: with ever greater financial expenditure and more resources, ever "better" wines are being made. And the wines are becoming more and more alike. The super seconds have long since moved up to the premiers, and those who don't bring more high-tech into the cellar and don't develop new philosophies for viticulture replace the tractors with horses and use the moon constellation as a guideline for the work in the vineyard and cellar. And everyone, whether small winegrowers, cooperatives or wine multinationals swear: "Our goal is to make good - even better wines."

Driving through the vast vineyards of the Languedoc (Photo: Peter Züllig)

For many years - when I was trying to achieve the status of a wine lover - I focused entirely on Bordeaux wines, trying to fathom the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of Bordeaux and to distinguish château from château. I managed to do that up to a certain level of perfection. Today, however, that is hardly possible. There are good and better wines (even among the top wines), but that has little to do with terroir, authenticity, location and the art of winemaking, and much more to do with laboratory techniques, analysis and the assessment of the best marketable wine style.

What works in the Bordelais (and other renowned wine regions) has spread to almost the entire wine world. Even China makes wonderful wines à la bordelaise, in global terms good "Bordeaux blends". These include: Concentrator, oak barrel, the grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot - the rest is then "sold" as an expression of style or terroir.

Marketing the wine in the cooperative cellar of Ventenac% Minervois (Photo: Peter Züllig)

Never before have I experienced this trend as close and omnipresent as on my trip through the Languedoc. Never have I felt it so clearly at a "wine fair": We too can make "mainstream wines". Never before have I tasted so many "non-authentic" wines as in the last weeks and months. That's probably why I long for all those wine characteristics that are disappearing more and more: "credible, safe, infallible, genuine, reliable, dependable, vouched for, unadulterated, unaffected, characteristic, real, natural, not imitated, original..."

Cordially
Yours/Yours

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