“A
Katyusha rocket will take out forty vines.” That is just one of the
hazards Avi Feldstein, winemaker for Israel’s Segal wines, has to
deal with — along with the deer, wild boar and grouse that devour
his grapes.
We are
standing in the Dovev vineyard, in the Upper Galilee, within sight of
a former Hezbollah outpost. To the north, the Lebanese border. Until
2006 Feldstein had to be accompanied by Israeli soldiers whenever he
went to tend to his mountaintop vineyard. Ten years ago, he carved
out twenty-four hectares of shallow terra rossa soil — the rockiest
vineyard in the north of the country — and planted it with Cabernet
Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Sangiovese, Ruby Cabernet, Chardonnay and
Muscat of Alexandria.
Prince Edward County (PEC), the most-talked about new wine region in Ontario, may be scoffed at as being too intemperate for vines to survive there, but wineries like Norm Hardie, the Grange, Rosehall Run and Long Dog are changing the way we think about winemaking in the cold, cold north.
“The County,” as locals call it, is home to approximately fourteen
wineries, fifty growers, 450 to 500 acres of vineyards planted with
vinifera, with a few hybrids scattered about. The largest wineries are
the Grange of Prince Edward County and Huff Estate Winery at
approximately 8,000 cases each annually; the smallest is Sandbanks at
1,200 cases. The region may be small in size but it produces some
fabulous wines that have writers raving they’re the best in the country.
The Okanagan has long stolen the thunder
of its neighbouring valley to the west, the Similkameen. But all that
could soon change. This rugged ranching and former gold-mining region
runs northwest from Osoyoos at the southern end of the Okanagan, and
it shares with its more famous neighbour the most northerly reaches
of the Sonoran Desert. You don’t want to walk the vineyards here in
open-toed sandals in case you step on a rattlesnake or a scorpion.
“It is impossible to
understand plant life without taking into account the fact that
everything on earth is actually only a reflection of what is taking
place in the cosmos.” — Rudolf Steiner, the “father”
of biodynamic agriculture
If
what is going on in Oregon is any indication, the “next big thing”
in wine will be about giving back to the vineyard as much as we take
from it. I went to Oregon to learn about three different
“environmentally friendly” winemaking practices: sustainable,
organic and biodynamic viticultures. And although they differ in
philosophy and methodology, all three share the same aim: preserving
the life of the vineyard in the most natural way possible, firmly
rooting the notion of “give and take” in the winemaking equation.
As South African wines take up more
space in our cellars, the way we look at Syrah versus Shiraz promises
to get a lot more interesting. If you’re finding it more difficult
to navigate the aisles in search of a new Syrah/Shiraz to take home,
you’re not alone. Many ask, “Wait, they’re both from the same
grape? What is the difference between the two?” Well, it’s
semantic. The varietal is Syrah in France, but the Australians
created a winemaking style from the same grape and dubbed it Shiraz —
I guess Fruit Bomb would have been too big a moniker. Since then a
lot has changed. Some French winemakers have taken to labelling their
product Shiraz to cash in on the enormous popularity of Australia’s
now-signature style. Likewise, several Australian wineries are going
for upmarket Old World appeal by adopting the more sophisticated
Syrah name.
“It is impossible to
understand plant life without taking into account the fact that
everything on earth is actually only a reflection of what is taking
place in the cosmos.” — Rudolf Steiner, the “father”
of biodynamic agriculture
