| VIN-SIGHTS |

BY MARNIE OLD

Many puzzling aspects of today ’ s wine landscape make more sense if we consider their historical context .

For example , understanding where , when and how quality-oriented winemaking first developed can help explain why most “ international ” grapes trace their roots to France and Germany , rather than Italy or Spain .

Wine , as we know it , emerged from Europe , as did all of the wine grapes cultivated around the globe today . Southern regions with a Mediterranean climate have the longest winemaking history , the greatest proliferation of native grape varieties and still produce the most wine in terms of volume . But the regions whose wine styles are the most influential are all located further north in colder , more temperate climates , such as Burgundy , Bordeaux and Champagne .

Prior to the Roman era , grape wines were only made in balmy Mediterranean climates , where vines thrive and yield bumper crops easily . Vines were first introduced to Europe ’ s cooler temperate zones by the Ancient Romans , and it is these regions — where the vitis vinifera species was pushed closer to its northern limits — which would pioneer fine wine in the modern sense centuries later .

Marnie Old is one of the country ’ s leading wine educators . Formerly the director of wine studies for Manhattan ’ s French Culinary Institute , she currently serves as director of vinlightenment for Boisset Collection and is best known for her visually engaging books published by DK — the award-winning infographic Wine : A Tasting Course for beginners and the tongue-in-cheek He Said Beer , She Said Wine .

WHY DID QUALITY-ORIENTED WINE CULTURE ORIGINATE IN COLDER REGIONS ? Wine maps of Europe clearly demonstrate a curious pattern where the highest-quality wines associated with any given grape variety developed first in regions at or near the northern limits of where that grape could reliably ripen .

Why is this ? Cooler temperatures can be an advantage . Grapes that struggle to survive in a harsh environment will naturally produce fewer clusters of fruit , so it is likely that cooler northern vineyards had naturally lower yields of fruit per vine than those of warmer zones farther south .

Since lower yields are known to produce more concentrated wine that is more resistant to spoilage , this helps explain why it was northern regions that first focused on systematically making smaller volumes of higher-quality wines . But modern practices of pruning have since evened the playing field in this regard , making it possible to lower yields in warmer vineyards .

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