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Guy Accad...Genius
or A CAD?
The fiercest wine-making debate
raging in Burgundy today concerns the practices of one Guy Accad,
a Lebonese-born oenologist who, for $500 a barrel ( and he totals
every barrel under your roof when he makes up his bill ) will
come in and "improve" your wine. To some, he is a guru
of modern winemaking; detractors accuse him of nothing less than
wrecking the traditional character of Burgundy.
The wines of Accad's clients are the most
"New Wave" of all New Wave Burgundies. Usually, they
are phenomenally dark wines, bursting with the kind of thick lush
fruit that you can find today in wines from Bordeaux, Tuscany,
and Australia. Accad advises his clients on vineyard practices
which allow later picking, and most controversial of all, extends
the pre-fermentation
"cold maceration" of the grapes up to ten days.
The dark, fruity Accad style wines draw
criticism for several reasons. Most compelling is the charge that
these wines are not typical of Burgundy. Secondly, critics charge
that the "method" is the chief determinent of the character
of Accadian wine, a shocking notion for the French, who have always
held that the "terroir"
(the special effects of the vineyard soil and microclimate) should
be the chief determinent of a wine's character.
Alas, for better or for worse
the Accad method blurs appellation distinctions to achieve robust
wines of great density, deep color, and intense concentration.
Is that a problem? |