Continued from page 25
I asked Carlo the ubiquitous wine interview question:“ How is a good wine made?” Carlo’ s answer is very well stated:“ The focus has to be in the vineyard. I could imagine myself taking care of the vineyard only, but I could never see myself focusing exclusively on the cellars. A good wine is made in the vineyard.”
Today such an answer is common, but in the early 1980s when Carlo advocated cutting back vineyard yields by harvesting fewer grapes per plant, he met great resistance.“ When I explained my philosophy of cutting back fruit to one Tuscan winery owner, as a method of increasing the fruit quality for a better wine, the producer laughed at me. He replied that he would rather kill his daughter than cut back the quantity of grapes per plant!” Well, we hope that no Italian daughters have been harmed on Carlo Ferrini’ s account: today, top producers are converts to Ferrini’ s viticultural renaissance and truly value quality over quantity. In context, Carlo Ferrini can be considered the father of modern Tuscan viticulture.
Carlo and I laughed over the old producer’ s comments, especially given the current worldwide revolution in modern viticulture that fully endorses Ferrini’ s approach. Although a large contingent of“ older” Italian producers still cling to a volumefirst strategy, they may yet succumb under the pressure of the global trend to drink less, but better. Tuscany, and actually all of Italy, has come a long way in the past 20 years as quantity has given way to quality in a rebirth of viticulture and winemaking. Thank you, Carlo Ferrini. �
GLOSSARY OF WINE TERMS
Agronomy: Plant science that encompasses the study of genetics, physiology, meteorology, and soil science.
Chianti Classico Wine Consortium: A regulatory board set up in 1927 to conserve the tradition of Chianti Classico wines.
Enology: The science and study of all aspects of winemaking from grape harvest to bottle.
Viticulture: A branch of horticulture, it is the science, production and study of grapes.
26 www. banvilleandjones. com