Don't We Want Some Mystery?

This is going to be a more philosophical post then most that I enter. I have been tasting a lot with several different people lately, and have heard so many different thoughts.

It seems that there is this approach being taken by some that wine is a simple beverage that can be broken down into it's individual components for replication. Is this true? My guess is that yes, to an extent this could be done and is by some, but why?

A recent article stated that there is no such thing as minerality in wine. By scientific research it showed that no vine uptakes minerals from the soil and imparts them in the grape, and therefore it can not be tasted in the grape. OK...well I still have to ask then, why do I sometimes taste a loamy character, or chalky note or some other for of minerality? I can not be told, nor should anybody be told what they taste and what they don't. Is it possible that the combination of soil type, soil pH, slope, drainage, sunlight, etc combined is giving a different profile that may not be proven, or even needs to be? Also, is it not possible that some dust from the soil on a windy harvest day, or spores from nearby brush fell on the grapes themselves and therefore made it into the fermentation? These are the questions of terroir and I love that this is part of wine.

The unfortunate thing is that with new technology and winemaking methods lots of these characters can be minimized in order to craft a beverage for what the winemaker believes to be the market's profile. Through eliminating barrels and using oak alternatives and micro-oxygenation equipment, using specific enzymes for extraction of certain aromas, selected yeast to help mold the acids present or extract certain aromas, measures quantities of sugar, tannin, etc, yes, one could probably make a replicable homogeneous wine. This would showcase the cellar and the winemaker more then anything.

At Tarara, our goal is to produce wines created by nature, since wine is and has always been a product of nature and what it allows the grapes to do each year. We take a minimalist approach, avoiding any additions of yeast, sugars, etc whenever possible and we never add un-necessary additives like tannins or enzymes. Why? Two reasons:

1) We want our wines to have personality and show the character of the vintage and vineyard. This is done by letting those natural pieces speak for themselves.

2) As much as our wines might not have identical profiles year to year, by not over extracting any one character, or minimizing another, we allow the wine to develop it's own complexity. If we concentrate on extracting one character then it may be intense and enjoyable, but also slightly one-dimensional.

So the more I discuss and taste with people, the more I see how there is a separation in wine from those that are made into a set style with recipes, and those that are crafted with a minimalist approach to showcase what nature has to offer each year. What is correct? Great question, I hope some of you respond so that we can have some great discussion over the philosophy of wine.