The Winehog is bad at hiding his opinion, and is terrible at faking enthusiasm for wines that don’t give him (me) at least some excitement and joy.

Walking through the Grands Jours de Bourgogne, I realized that there are so many indifferent wines produced – 90% of them, with 80% I really don’t want to know at all! But remember: This event also shows great potential for making and finding new vins d’emotion.

When I taste a wine I immediately know if it’s on my vin d’emotion scale. If not, I would rather spit and move on to the next one – or some water.

This is considered arrogant by some, but I see no reason to rate, describe, or even less, cheer a 93-point grand cru that to me is indifferent at best.

You pay me for my views and recommendations, not to be polite or diplomatic!

Is this fair? I can’t answer that. But I also can’t pretend to like wines that do not meet the criteria for an emotional wine.

And those criteria are: that the wine evokes (at least) some positive emotions, that it shows energy and joy, that it gives me the urge for a re-taste, that it puts a smile on my mind – and maybe even an actual smile on my face (this does happen).

Wine is about joy, seduction, and passion, and about letting go and sharing some effortless enjoyment with fellow geeks and pleasure-seekers.

What I hate

I hate wines with no energy, where you almost can feel an indifferent vigneron that is just mechanically making the same indifferent wine year after year – also known as “dead wines walking.”

Then we have the confused vigneron, who at least wants to do well, but does not have the skills, the vineyards, and the passion needed to do the work in the vineyard. Making great wines from lesser terroirs demands a lot of work – a lot!

Then we have estates with internal conflicts: generational fights where the younger generation wants to do whole-cluster, low-sulphur wines, but the older generation prefers to destem the harvest, the way they always have. I only have this to say: Make up your mind one way or the other, and when you have, I will taste the result. I don’t want to hear about the conflict, to be honest. And I don’t want to see this conflict affect different wines across the line-up. If the results are great, the wines will find their place in the market (although this could take some time). That said, great wines are rarely made in a context of conflict and bad blood.

Vin d’emotion requirements

In the end, it requires talent, vineyards that are optimized, passion, and hard work to produce a vin d’emotion.

Talent means actually mastering the craft, not making wines randomly. The random process can be fun, and can sometimes even produce a vin d’emotion, although the odds are not good.

Great terroirs are of course a wonderful starting point. But with no talent and little effort, it is possible to make a Musigny or a Romanee Saint-Vivant with no vitality or emotional joy.

Vins de soif can be made from even lesser terroirs that are well maintained with sound, considered viticulture.

Passion goes without saying. But focused passion is the key. I want to feel the energy behind that passion in the wines.

And lastly, nothing replaces hard work. One doesn’t make the best wines without spending a lot of effort in the vineyards, and timing here is very important. This is why I don’t make my own wines – or even try!

What I do

What I do is try to find and reveal the talented winemakers that now (or in the future) are likely to give us vins d’emotion. For new or young vignerons, there should be room for experiments, failures even. If you don’t push your conception, style, and viticulture when you are starting out, it will never be stressed or tested, and its boundaries will never be revealed – much less moved.

I salute vignerons with talent and passion that push their boundaries!

Conclusion – moving forward

In the future, I will do fewer tastings of wines that don’t respect all of the above-stated principles. If I know I don’t find wines fulfilling these criteria – or at least with the potential to do so – I will not visit the estate.

This doesn’t mean I will never taste the wines, as one still finds them in restaurants and other outlets, or via their importer tastings.

So let’s sharpen the palate! And the tone of voice!