The 2024 Masters of Wine Exam was held about two weeks ago, and the questions asked were released to the general public a couple of days after the Exam week was over (Yes, the Exam takes place over four days, all written exams, with 3 double-blind tasting sessions and 5 differently themed, Theory paper sessions-Fun, it isn’t!). The three double blind tasting sessions (12 wines/session, with no ID or any sort indicated) focus on white wines, red wines, and what is often a mixed bag, including sparkling wines, dessert and fortified wines. The Theory papers test knowledge of Viticulture, Winemaking, Wine maturation and treatments, Business of Wine and finally the most open to exposition, Contemporary Issues. Some of you may recall that two weeks ago I wrote about ‘Great Wines—What is most important?
Considering that the MW Exam is all about determining who shows real understanding and expertise that can contribute to the betterment of wine quality and provide informed solutions educating the broader public as well as trade about this complex beverage, I found the questions noted below particularly timely and appropriate.
Mind you, I had no inkling of the Exam questions beforehand, so it was with a certain degree of surprise and amusement that when I saw the Questions (below) for Paper 5 (Contemporary Issues), I noted how the Examiners who set these five questions were ALSO addressing the same question I did two weeks ago, if in a more multi-faceted manner.
The question I asked provoked a few comments from interested readers and coincidentally, similar feature articles by other writers I know. That cliché; Greatness (or is it Beauty?-same difference?) is in the eye of the Beholder, assertively pokes a finger in the eye of those who believe that there is room for enlightened expertise, or a limited set of criteria for evaluating high quality. The questions below, therefore, were an attempt to probe time-worn perspectives and perhaps, ‘poke the elephant’ (wine students in this case) into thinking outside the box of our limited-frame wine world these past few years.
Here are the questions, two of which (One from each section) must be answered in the allotted three hour time-frame of the Exam.
Section A
1. ‘Great wine is made in the vineyard.’ Do you agree?
2. Could it be argued that recent climate change has been a good thing for wine lovers?
Section B
3. Propose and justify a contemporary definition of fine wine and discuss how perspectives on this may have changed over time.
4. How and why should governments influence wine consumption?
5. How important is the concept of a defined wine region?
No doubt most readers will find these questions somewhat academic, especially if your pocket book, like mine these days, cannot afford what are considered ‘fine wine’ these days. Who cares about defining wines many cannot afford? Indeed, in today’s gentrified wine world, the following sentence from one of New York City’s best wine merchants sums up how skewed our notions today of the difference between ‘everyday, affordable’ wine and ‘fine wine’, at least from my old-fashioned, many years of experience suggest. To wit: “We are now pleased to present the 2023 B____ Sancerre, a truly exceptional everyday wine phenomenon, especially when you consider the pedigree, terroir and price – just $38.99 when you purchase six bottles (Italics mine)”.
How many of you can afford to spend $40/day for your dinner wine?
That noted, (almost) all the questions above, #4 excepted, directly or indirectly, challenge long-held assumptions which experienced wine professionals and enthusiastic wine consumers have gradually become skeptical of in the last few years. Fine wine, or great wine, is no longer just the province of the classic regions like Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo and Napa Cabernet. Old archetypes like these, while still excellent places for wine-growing, are being challenged climatically and thus stylistically. Moreover, new-old places long out of favor or simply unfamiliar to most, such as Soave in Italy, Bierzo in Spain, Amador in California and Tasmania in Australia, now are demonstrating greater excellence and distinctive styles, due to better viticultural practices and winemaking refinements, as well as a new-found appreciation by consumers looking for ‘something’ different that speaks to their own changing tastes.
What makes these questions relevant more to wine than art? To a greater degree fine or great wine is made from a concrete, real product-grapes. The main ingredient for wine is an organic substance that stands apart by dint of location, climate, the grapes themselves and other real-world factors. Unlike a painting, a fine wine is not just something created in the mind of the artist. Sure, the quality of the marble used for a sculpture or building is important to the artist and contributes to their creative ability. The difference is that wine, good and bad, is made with mutable ingredients; grapes, yeast etc. that are conditioned by a changing environment. Their quality and character are literally not set in stone and can be influenced by intelligent human practices.
I believe that at least two of the questions above (1 & 3) directly are suggesting to the readers that there are Objective criteria based upon the physical properties which must be considered in determining the winemaker’s approach to making fine wine, coordinated by their experience and vision. These criteria are derived from physical, mostly measurable elements in the fruit formed by the local climate of the vineyard and its geology, further tempered by (usually) predictable physical processes under the guidance of the winemaker’s creative/analytical vision.
For the last two decades, I believe, there has been a decided resistance (revolt?) against the concept of expertise, of solid, experiential knowledge having an important place at the table when considering everything from art, wine and dare I say, to politics and what is the best EV. In this age of ever-present social media and ‘facts’ just a click away, everyone (and no-one?) is an expert, ready to pronounce on what is the best of this or that, who makes the best burger (Yelp, anyone?) and of course, what is a great wine.
Question 3 above certainly encompasses some of the aspects noted above. By what experience does one define and justify what a fine wine is? Is it enough to just say I like this wine, or that because it is robust and smooth, therefore it is a great wine? Just because a young wine blogger with little experience but a brash, enthusiastic pitch gives a wine 96 points, does that make a wine great?
Does simply disrespecting the writings of older generations of informed wine specialists with wide and deep experience tasting wines, knowing the places and producers or making wine, because those folks are writing about what today’s younger drinkers consider old-school or irrelevant, non-hip wines, serve to enhance the reputation of new and younger ‘experts’ whose main criteria for acceptance how many new ‘followers’ they have on Tik-Tok or Instagram?
Does objective quality of fruit, balanced concentration and proportion vivid expression of character adequately serve as criteria for fine wine, or, as with a few ‘great’ wines so designated today, need there be some ‘bling’ attached, or the name of a famous personality; for example Champagne ‘Ace of Spades’ (Sean ‘JZ’ Carter and LVMH owners)? Think on it. And corollary to that issue, it seems now, more than ever, that to be a fine wine or great one, it has to be significantly more expensive than its peers.
This is not necessarily a new notion, but given that almost all wine today is much more expensive than in the past, far ahead of inflationary costs in some regions or for some styles (Burgundy, Napa Cabernet, Barolo), does a high price today even more change the perspective of what constitutes a fine or great wine for today’s wine consumers? IF it is really dear, it must be great, eh?? And, to be honest, when I look at wine reviews of fine wines written by the leading critic/experts today, and note their ‘scores’, as well as comments (On occasion I am guilty of this, too), it is hard to argue against that logic. Most of the fine/great wines so noted are also really expensive (>$100 minimum).
To change the subject slightly, question 5 addresses an important factor that traditionally, and perhaps still, is important to defining what a fine wine is. I noted above some of the classic regions for ‘great’ wines, like Burgundy and Napa. I loved the symmetry, intended or not, between questions 1 and 5. Until recently, only in certain ‘defined’ wine regions was fine wine considered possible. Today’s drinkers, critics and consumers alike, would appear to have moved on from such an arcane, even condescending thought. Question 5, if it had been written for the Exam 20-30 years ago might have been written thus: How important is the concept of a defined wine region to considering what a ‘fine wine’ is?
Times have changed, for the better I believe since a fine or great wine now can now originate in a less prestigious place, and offers a compelling sense of character, harmony and intensity. Some of this enthusiasm can be attributed to better conditions (climate change) in a lesser region emerging in the last two decades (e.g. Gamay in Beaujolais, Pinot Noir in parts of Germany), which ties into questions 1 and 2. One should also acknowledge that many of today’s (younger) winemakers have not only gained professional degrees in their home country, but have also widely traveled and exchanged knowledge with winemakers elsewhere.
Appreciation for different approaches to making wine, especially in a traditional region, has opened many winemakers to take advantage of climate change aspects, reducing reliance on synthetic vineyard treatments, and allowing the return of older, less intrusive, ‘low tech’ winemaking practices based upon modern understanding and analyses of the problem(s) to be solved.
What used to be considered marginal places for making good or fine wines, such as the West Sonoma Coast, Spain’s Sierra del Gredos, or completely new unplanted places like parts of Patagonia in Argentina and Chile are now capable of doing so. How important is a wine region for making fine wine? Maybe making fine wine first leads to creating a new region, and/or enhancing a previously named, ill-considered one?
Enough of these questions! Better to consider them with a nice glass of wine in hand, rather than sitting in Exam Room, I think. Hope you all have a fine rest of your weekend.
HI Joel, I really enjoy your comments about the MW exams. Earning the MW is a major achievement that few manage, but many aspire to. But it's your love of wine and desire to share with the rest of us that makes me appreciate your writing. Please don't stop.