Becky Sue Epstein reviews Elaine Chukan Brown’s acclaimed new guide, The Wines of California.
You may not get exactly what you expected when you open The Wines of California, a new encyclopaedic work by well-known wine expert Elaine Chukan Brown. And that’s a good thing.
Before diving into details of grapes, climate, geography, and regions, Brown begins the conversation with several centuries of early Spanish and Indigenous Californian history. Cultural and political elements are interwoven throughout the book, presenting us with both macro and micro lenses to view California wine—and the wine industry as a whole—in the past, present, and future.
Equally interesting is Brown’s own history. (Please click on this link to their bio, otherwise I would have to take up all the space I have in this article describing their journey from native Alaskan upbringing, to philosophy professor in Arizona, to their current position as an award-winning Sonoma-based wine writer.)
Over a dozen years ago I began following Brown’s online persona hawk_wakawaka. Knowing nothing about them, not even their name, I was drawn by the insightful writing and inimitable outlook. When Brown and I met on Zoom the other day, we had a wide-ranging discussion from the point of view that wine and grapes are part of the land, air, water, sun, animals, insects, people, and everything else on this planet. As obvious as it may seem, this approach to wine wasn’t (and often still isn’t) a consideration for many of us. Instead, the end-product—the bottle of wine—is too often our sole focus. How it got here is not always part of the story for writers and consumers, and it needs to be.
Brown does an incredible job of encompassing all the elements involved in wine. Though California is unique, it is also emblematic of the worldwide wine industry in its agricultural, production, financial, regulatory, and climatic development issues.
The Wines of California contains a full compendium of historical timelines, descriptions of wine regions and AVAs, maps, climate, weather, and topographical info, along with Brown’s selection of the most significant wineries in each area. While Brown usually exceeds expectations, there is one thing I missed having here: all the dates that Brown’s selected wineries were established. For me, this would add important context to California wine history.
Brown explains how we celebrate successes but often forget about the many challenges people have had to overcome in order to succeed, and how that could help us. You can see this in repeated cycles of vineyard diseases as well as poor treatment of marginalized people. Both are issues that no one paid enough attention to as they evolved, until too late.
Present and future—a discussion
Recently, there’s been a downturn in wine consumption. Most likely, this is a normal variation within our documented 8,000 years of wine and its generational and cultural fluctuations. More specifically, Brown points to a neo-prohibitionism movement that echoes developments of the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is augmented by political and individual divisiveness, as well as by a deliberate dissemination of more health misinformation than material evidence.
Brown discusses the ramifications of 20th century Prohibition, which altered the trajectory of California’s agricultural and wine businesses, as well as social norms throughout the country. Instead of repeating this cycle, in today’s conflicted world Brown believes in leading by example, in not trying to simplify issues, but rather in attempting to clarify them.
Though there are many problems to overcome in the wine world, Brown shines a light on the rapid improvements possible in many areas. They have personally seen a difference in only five years of treating vineyards better, by, for instance, grazing sheep between the rows of vines, instead of regularly using machines, chemical pesticides and fertilizers. In terms of water issues, they relate how it took only two weeks after removing river dams for salmon to repopulate streams they had been cut off from, for decades. Would any of this have been possible without someone taking a leap to try something new?
Brown believes that “In human communities, welcoming diverse perspectives invites a broader range of first-hand knowledge and experience…California has demonstrated again and again the determination of its people to fight for positive change, even as its history includes innumerable obstacles and harms.”
How to talk about wine, globally
The challenge of globally communicating about wine is a hot-button issue right now, because people from different parts of the world all have their own distinctive flavour and aroma references.
I asked Brown how they navigate this. They advise that before crafting a presentation, consider “Who is your audience, and how are you reaching them? Written? In person?” It makes a difference whether or not you’ll be able to have a realtime dialogue.
In the US, Brown explains, we treat flavours and aromas as primary wine descriptors, while “many other cultures talk about texture, mouthfeel, the shape of the wine.” In their experience, spending a lot of time in Italy, you’ll hear the term “sapidity” which explains “the relationship [of the wine] to your mouth.” In France, they talk about the influence of “dry extract” on the texture and the body of the wine.
In East Asia, Brown redesigns their presentations so “the audience can tell you about what their response is. The most insightful way is to talk about it tonally and notice the texture, harmony, like music and sound, and fabric. It becomes a way to express a wine rather than to describe it.” Textural examples might include ‘fine-corded tannin, or cashmere tannin.’
Back to the book
In the epilogue “Regeneration and Innovation”, Brown offers hope for the future, bright glimmers on the pathway from the difficulties of yesterday and today, to a better place in the future wine universe.
This is a definitive work, including valuable appendices such as wine label requirements, farmworker protections, sustainability certifications, and an explanation of the three-tier system of wine distribution in the US. Overall, this book is an illustration for the famous quote about why we study history: if we don’t, we are doomed to repeat it.
How to use this book
This is a large book, but don’t let that stop you. My advice is to use it on a day-to-day basis, to look up anything about wine you’re wondering about. Or just scroll to a random page, read it, and you’ll learn something—often something you didn’t know you needed to learn.
The Wines of California is published by Académie du Vin Library and available for £35.