A familiar taste

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Over the centuries wine has made a spectacular career.

Loved by all social classes, immortalized in verse and prose and in its most recent history on the silver screen, it has enjoyed an unprecedented fame. Also for this reason it has become a commodity able to secure great wealth and prominence on the global beverage market.

Having said that, with an ever-growing number of wineries it eventually became a subject of market analysis in order to make it more sublime, appealing or affordable and consequently give it an edge over the competitors. Marketing and PR involvement followed and have become a necessity to reach the consumers.

As consumers, we are very lucky to have a near infinite range of wines from many corners of the globe to choose from. At the same time it is a huge challenge not to be seduced too easily by design and publicity and to see the real product behind them.

Recently I had a chance to go to a French Independent Winegrowers tasting. Most of them were small and family run wineries that come from the same regions as the famous chateaux and domains but for one or other reason have not (yet) grown to fame. Some have decades of experience, others have started their winemaking adventure quite recently, often out of the need to reconnect with nature, having previously lived and worked in big cities.

Wines from independent producers have a certain element of anticipation and discovery to them. To say that they are all to die for would be a lie but some of them can make you want to take the glass and run to the next person just to be able to share the awe.

The tasting felt almost like an informal gathering of producers who know each other and are a walking representation of their properties. In fact, many a hand pouring wine bore some marks of viticulture and winemaking.

The tasting brought back many memories. As a child I used to spend many summers at my grandparents’ farm. They were not winegrowers but they shared the same values and had the same reverence for the land. Knowing every inch of it inside out, what it needs and when; and having an emotional relationship with it to the point of missing being there on days off. 

  

There were 71 winegrowers exhibiting at the event organised by the French Trade Commission UBIFRANCE in London, in partnership with the French Association of Independent Winegrowers.

Click here for full list of exhibitors.