Comments on: Desperately Seeking Somewhere

By: Mike Veseth

Mike Veseth — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:15:55 +0000

I understand the feeling completely. There is no harm (and even some benefit) if some wines are affordable, simple and flaw free but lacking distinguishing characteristics. But when most wines have these characteristics something is surely lost.

For me, nowhereness is a general problem, so it is easy to understand why it should apply to wine as well other elements of daily life. As Ken noted in the first comment, somewhereness can be found in wine and other experiences if we just take the trouble to look for it. We need to encourage more people to make the effort so that they do not simply accept nowhereness as the standard.

Thanks for your comment.

By: eva

eva — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:26:06 +0000

My impression after reading this short note is quite sad, I must admit.
It’s not that I think you’re a kind of growler, it’s more about that I had a similar impression during yesterday’s Italian wine show in Warsaw. I tried over 40 wines looking for something that I could call special, original and unique expression of a particular terroir and, considering good condition of Italian wineries, I finally found it. But the problem is, that I had an overwhelming feeling of being flooded by mainstream wines that lack of personality, the wines that want to please anyone and fit anywhere.
So, picking up your metaphor, I’ve got a certain feeling of wine being “constructed on an industrial model” and I would suggest the winemakers turn back from this path. There’s to much to lose.

By: Mike Veseth

Mike Veseth — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:04:33 +0000

Thanks for calling me out on the hyperbole, Ken. My actual talk was more nuanced. As usual, however, I find your observations right on the money.

By: Ken Bernsohn

Ken Bernsohn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:19:15 +0000

If you really feel the events and products of the world are now to the point that things come from anywhere, you should get out more. Consider Italian design. See a movie like Election or My left Eye Sees Ghosts by Hong Kong’s Johnny To. Go to Raffles in Singapore for their delicious Laksa, spend a day at Kirstenbosch Gardens in Capetown, South Africa. Read The Painter of Battles by Auturo Perez-Reverte. The spectrum of arts we now have access to is broader than ever and the variety is overwhelming, but in each case shaped in part by local history, local social attitudes, physical environment, climate and the type of earth and growing conditions. All that’s required is to get slightly out of your comfort zone to discover it. You’ll find it become addictive.