Wine de'fine'd

What makes a “fine” wine?

It will come as no surprise that there isn’t a single concrete, universally accepted definition of what makes a fine wine. Ubiquitous the term may be, the legal definition is down to us, the wine lover, to determine what “fineness” in a wine looks (or rather tastes) like.

That isn’t to say that we’ll struggle to find common ground when it comes to pinpointing the characteristics of fine wines. Regardless of whether aged Rioja or funky natural wine is your go-to tipple, our first inclination is generally to analyse the depth, intensity, and complexity of flavours on offer. After all, a wine with dilute or undistinctive aromas and flavours clearly won’t be cause for much excitement! It does take a little bit of effort to recognise these qualities as they can be nuanced – but more often than not high-quality wines with intense and complex characteristics will deliver an instinctive, “wow!” moment when we first smell or taste them.

If a myriad of punchy flavours was the sole defining characteristic of a fine wine, there would be tens of thousands of “fine wines” out there (a bottle of any of the big-brand Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs springs to mind). Therefore, we should be slightly more rigorous in our analysis, as a fine wine should distinguish itself from the best of the rest . Here are some examples of what we might consider “fine” wines, but for different reasons…

Tradition, History, Luxury

An obvious place to start would be a winemaker that’s been around for a while; one that has built a reputation on the quality of their wines and has honed their winemaking craft over hundreds of years. A wine producer that features on the pages of wine encyclopaedias, vinous textbooks, and monthly publications, that represents the gold-standard in what they do. And many of them happen to be French, like the famous Chateau D'Yquem.

Long considered the finest producer of sweet wines anywhere in the world, they are the top estate within Bordeaux’s Sauternes appellation. Since 1855 they have been granted the lofty status of Premier Cru Superieur, the only producer considered fine enough to hold this classification.

Their unctuous dessert wines require the formation of the Botrytis Cinerea fungus, also known as noble rot, to attack the grapes and concentrate the sugars and flavours. Specific climatic conditions are needed for Botrytis to form – it only happens in select years, and when it does, pickers painstakingly select affected fruit. The wine spends three years ageing in oak and most connoisseurs would tell you not to open it until it’s at least 20 years old. The resulting wine is rare, expensive, and life-changingly delicious.

Modern, genuine, exclusive

Not every premium wine is the product of centuries of winemaking history, so let’s take a much smaller hop back in time to the early 90’s. Enric Costa and Lluis Llach threw caution to the wind as they set out to create a wine that could compete with Spain’s established wine royalty, founding Celler Vall Llach in the town of Porrera within the renowned region of Priorat.

If their venture is relatively new, their vines most certainly are not. Vall Llach’s “trossos” (plots of land) are home to Carignan and Grenache vines between 90 and 110 years old. The unique licorella slate soils, densely packed and dappled with bright orange iron deposits, force the vines to dig deep in search for water. This decades-old battle between vine and stone yields grapes of exceptional quality, albeit in small quantities.

Speaking of quantity, if you manage to get your hands on Vall Lach’s flagship wine, Mas de la Rosa Gran Vinya, you’re in an exclusive club; only around 1,200 bottles are made each year (by comparison, Dom Perignon Champagne’s production is measured in millions of bottles!). Vall Lach’s philosophy includes self-imposed limits on production and future expansion, as they recognise that endless growth is simply not sustainable. This approach reflects their dedication to a conscientious approach to winemaking, producing exceptional wines with a sense of place while minimising the detrimental impact associated with traditional agricultural and winemaking practices.

Pioneering, mindful, experimental

In stark contrast to the mist-shrouded vines of Sauternes, or rugged slopes of the Catalan countryside, our final example of a fine wine producer is located in the enchanting and dramatic alpine landscape of North-Eastern Italy: Alto Adige. This area is home to the family-run Alois Lageder Wine Estate, who over six generations have become champions of holistic, mindful winemaking.

From the herds of oxen and cows roaming the estate to the swathes of wildflowers dappling the vineyard, Lageder’s biodynamic vision focuses on promoting harmonious interactions between soil, plants, animals and humans to create their “farm organism”. They believe this approach is essential to strengthen and futureproof their vineyard for generations to come.

The impact of climate change on viticulture has concerned Alois Lageder as early as the 1980s, where they carried out a wealth of field experiments in Alto Adige. They planted various varieties, including the obscure Manzoni Bianco, which possesses traits that offer better resistance to diseases in challenging weather conditions. Will Manzoni ever become a huge commercial success? Unlikely. But it’s the right grape at the right time, and tastes incredible.

Serious as they may be about climate change and biodynamics, it isn’t to say that Lageder don’t have a playful streak too. Their luxurious Lowengang Inedito II is an assemblage of nine different vintages, with each wine representing the nuances of variation in weather and climate from year to year. In their own words, it’s a bit like bottling “a journey through time”.

Lageder represent the very best of dynamic, curious wine producers, that don’t rely on brand recognition or the latest trends, but let their wines do the talking.

The examples above, whilst all wildly different, could be argued to be fine wines in their own right. Although none of them are inexpensive, we cannot judge on price alone – the concept of expensive is too relative to the depth of one’s individual wallet. What unites all the examples given is that they are produced in low quantities, are hand-crafted, and tell the story of the place within which they’re made, and the people who made them. And, most importantly, they are absolutely delicious.