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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?

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