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Amber Gardner: ‘We are seeing a shift back towards the known, the familiar and, ultimately, the comforting’
A momentous shift is taking place in the UK's wine culture – a swinging back of the pendulum from the wild west of alternative wine culture. While tastes and fashions change, it’s no coincidence that this swing is in parallel to our testing economic times and the world’s rather uncertain socio-political future.
The last decade has seen an explosion in wine’s ‘other’ side – other grapes, regions, countries, styles – and a tearing up of the vinous rule book. But now, we in the trade are seeing a shift back towards the known, the familiar and, ultimately, the comforting, as people seek out recognisable grape varieties and appellations once again.
When I joined the wine trade in 2012, I did so on the foundations of WSET textbook learning and the pillars of Old World regions and grape varieties. Unbeknown to me, international wine culture and, indeed, my own understanding of wine were on the cusp of a profound change.
Sauvignon Blanc, Nebbiolo and Riesling were going to start rubbing shoulders with Blaufränkisch, Listán Negro and Terret; wine lists would begin to boast myriad new countries; and styles such as orange, pét-nat and the red-white blended blouge were to become more common. Every season seemed to bring some new, dazzling iteration of what wine was capable of.
Jo Radford, wine buyer for Michelin one-star Timberyard in Edinburgh, and I met almost 10 years ago – two sommeliers immersed in this new-wave scene – at a party thrown by natural wine importer Tutto Wines. Jo recalled that time as ‘a push into this more feral, wild, experimentative world’, but noted: ‘Everyone grew up – us, the restaurant, the scene, the winemakers. Naturally, our tastes began to change.’
As the generation now governing wine lists and buying strategies, is this latest shift in part our fault? Perhaps we’re feeling more responsible to the guests we serve and the money they spend. When a glass of wine can typically cost £10 plus service charge, there’s real, justifiable sensitivity to what’s poured. And when prices are so punchy, yet you have no idea what will turn up in the glass, the constant gamble can begin to feel exhausting.
The ‘scene’ feels like it’s being rightly forced to mature. While recent years have opened our minds and taste buds to wine’s incredible diversity, they also opened the floodgates to mediocre wine dressed up as something natural or alternative. Of course, mediocrity isn’t unique to this corner of the wine world. But in this new wave we’re beginning to ride, quality and artisanship have become the new cornerstones.
Justé Karbauskaité, wine director for Morchella and Perilla restaurants in London, argues that the ever-rising cost of wine has seen quality, consistency and recognisability becoming the key factors for guests, as well as buyers themselves. Jo says it has become a joy to ‘dig deep into traditional appellations, exploring the best that these regions can do and the depths the different grape varieties can express, while staying within the boundaries’, all the while appreciating that ‘in regions like this, there is comfort and a clear association of quality and money well spent’.
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Across the board, my peers agree that consumers are more knowledgeable and comfortable discussing wine and engaging in the details behind the label. Oliver Fletcher, head sommelier of Climat in Manchester, said that people are more curious about the nitty gritty of the winemakers and their vineyards, ‘because these things all give colour and authenticity to their experience drinking the wine’.
As we turn back to well-trodden paths, I believe it will happen with a renewed demand for excellence and transparency. Our best-loved regions will no longer be able to rest on their laurels. Our swing into the world of natural and alternative wine will leave in its wake a consciousness around sustainable farming, indigenous grape varieties and artisanship that will continue well into the future.
In my glass this month
Many wine professionals have a love-hate relationship with Sauvignon Blanc – which has fallen prey to mass production and perceptions of being a little passé. Yet some producers are revitalising and reimagining it in classic regions. Alexandre Bain in Pouilly-Fumé pushes the variety’s limits. His 2018 L d’Ange Vin de France cuvée (£47 Berry Bros & Rudd), grown on limestone and aged four years before bottling, brings a wine filled with lime, spice and a salty backbone. Seductive and surprising.
