Modern Wine: The Playing Field is Wide Enough

I haven't had a good grasp of this in the last few years. One thing is how people from the outside perceive it—they often pigeonhole you and then see you from that perspective for the rest of your life. (Cognitive bias is a thing.) But in the end, that doesn't really matter—what's more important is how you feel about it yourself, whether what you do makes sense to you.

It's often easier to say what we're not than to define ourselves positively. I myself have been critical of various "philosophical" approaches to winemaking and have often distanced myself from something that others considered me to be. I was tired of all those labels like biodynamic, natural, naked, artisanal, authentic, etc, add another 20 more adjectives.

I reflected on each of these approaches, tried to understand them and apply when/where useful to us. However, I did not agree with any of them 100%, which is why I usually cringed when labelled with this or that term. (At the same time, I don't live under a rock, and I understand that labels are useful because they make work and orientation easier for all of us who make a living from wine and are involved in it—from winemakers to retailers, restaurateurs, the media, and consumers.)

Over time, I began to feel that certain noble ideas were becoming mainstream. Blindly adopting something that may not work in our circumstances, or that we don't really believe in, and doing it only because there is a hype around it.

I felt that philosophies had become mere instructions that some people blindly follow. To exaggerate a little, working with biodynamic preparations every year in the same way, at the same times, following the same procedures without much thought, is not so far removed from using conventional methods in wine production – both involve following a certain recipe without sensitivity to the actual situation at hand.

I can go further: the label "natural wine" (I mean in the sense in which it is mainly used by the French, i.e., zero-zero or nothing added, including sulfur). Again, a thing taken out of context, focused on a single idea: don't add anything at any cost. Dogma over context. Artisanal wine, authentic wine – trends focusing on traditional methods, or rather on their a-historical imitation, not reflecting the possibility of using modern technologies where it makes sense (by which I do not mean systemic chemicals, of course). Terroir wine, the adoration of one specific place, which puts this one factor only on a pedestal and often ignores the background, e.g., when the standard for a given terroir was actually set and how legitimate it is, or does not address whether that "terroir" is actually farmed totally conventionally.

I could go on, but you get my drift. One thing is true and always will be: the less you fuck with it and the less you get in the way of the soil, the vines, and the wine, the better your results will be. Certainly in the long run.

Even so, it bothered me that I couldn't fit into any one category. I took only what I understood, what I believed in, what made sense in my circumstances, from each of the various "schools". But I wanted to belong somewhere, to have some kind of label (haha). So I once created my own category, calling it the "normal wine."

Today, however, I found a term that is even closer to what we do and want to do: "modern wine" and "modern farming." Which finally brings us—kudos to everyone who has read my stream of thoughts this far—to the reason why this whole text was written in the first place.

What do I talk about when I talk about "modern"

First, I must give credit to Kai Schätzel from Rheinhessen, who came up with this term in the sense that I understand it and began to use it.

I have taken the liberty of using it in the same way as Kai – we may differ in some nuances, but ultimately I think we are talking about the same thing. Kai talks a little about this in our recent interview here on our blog.

For me, modern wine and modern farming are a synthesis of all the fundamental low-intervention approaches. It is a philosophy that is based on deep historical knowledge and experience, while also understanding today's context and focusing on the future.

It is the creation of a system – ecological, energetic, social, sustainable, and economic. It is the suppression of monoculture as such, in all five of the above-mentioned areas.

A huge awakening and gradual realization came to me about seven years ago, when the first really warm year arrived. It disproved many of the "truths" on which our cool-climate viticulture had been based for centuries. Then came the overheating of the wine market and its overproduction. Labor shortages. Changes in customer behavior and the generational changes of wine drinkers. These are things that cannot be ignored and need to be addressed if you care about the industry as a whole.

However, my glass is always half full, and collapse always brings change. Change ushers in a new tomorrow and a better future.

Modern wine is about expression that is consistent, distinctive, and recognizable. It does not necessarily have to be strange and only for a narrow demographic. It is about finding balance and building bridges – I'm definitely not interested in a philosophy based on "us vs. them".

A new wave that will save the world. Without exaggeration. Let's share our knowledge and invest our time in the future. Let's work consciously and smartly; not everything can be built on a romantic view of things. Let's believe in ourselves, our knowledge, and our experience. It's more than esoteric instructions. Let's not do things just because we have historical reasons for doing them, but also with a view to the future.

Everything is a process and everything evolves, but in any case it should be inspired by nature, representing its transformation. Terroir is like a musical score; it needs an interpreter, a co-creator.

Let's each create our own path, put our own inventiveness and curiosity into it, not blindly copy other philosophies. Let's deliberately expose ourselves to new paths and approaches.

If you are waiting for me to list all the buzzwords such as regenerative farming, vitiforestry, drones, etc., I shall not do so. Because that would just be another set of instructions, which, moreover, everyone already knows and may even be applying them.

Modern farming and modern wine represent a mindset, a way of approaching things, letting things affect you, and sharing things with others. It's mainly about an individual approach—one that requires the most energy, expense, and knowledge.

Working with each vine as such, as a unit, as a single personality. Respecting the biology and physiology of plants, soil, and wine is the core tenet.

We often attract like-minded people and communities; let's not try to make wine for someone else, it can't work. Wine is a bearer of certain values. It is transparent and intimate. Modern wine is open and provides freedom. It is not dogmatic, it is fluid, and it is a discussion. It has boundaries, but the playing field is wide enough.

PS. "Change the context, change the content." If we change the context, the content can take on a completely different meaning. After all, this text was written when a colleague pointed out to me that in some cases, the very phrases "modern wine" and "modern farming" can be misunderstood. (For example, my colleague Martin Vajčner uses the term modern wine to refer to the products of conventional winemaking – aka modernity in the sense of post-war "technological progress". What a colorful world!)

In our eyes, the word "modern" does not mean the boundless, uncritical, and insensitive use of all the "achievements" of modern technology, heavy machinery in the vineyards, and enological additives in the cellar, as some might think. For us, the archetype is rather modern society, as seen from an optimistic perspective: democratic, firmly anchored in its values, interconnected, and ready for change. Modern wine and modern agriculture are all-encompassing and not a monoculture in our minds.