” The Cistercians are quality fanatics. They have plenty of time, manpower and fi nancial resources. In Burgundy, it is claimed that they even taste soil samples before deciding where to plant new vineyards. They bring the Chardonnay grape to the region of Chablis. They introduce the notions of terroir and cru. ” – Wine and Place, pg 36 Chapter 2

My Responsive Question: Is the Cistertian level of perfectionism and fanaticism for quality still possible on such a wide scale in the modern era?

I did additional independent study on these subjects, expanding into further study of Viticulture, watching approximately a dozen academic lectures on Regenerative Farming soil structure and health, and Biodynamic Viticulture. This included some great work on soil by Leighton Morrison which built on in-class teaching by Steve, as well as work by other lecturers. I did some hands-on application of Steve’s lectures by looking at the several minimally-tended grape vines on my family’s property in Oregon.

I embarked on an additional independent tastinf exercise. I got three different red wines from areas with distinctly known tastes. One was a Pinot Noir from Oregon, the next one a Malbec from Argentina, and the third an Appellation d’Origine Controlee regulated French Bordeaux. I had another person uncork them and pour them into three identical glasses, labelled A, B, and C, in a seperate room from me, and bring the glasses to me. I then smell and taste tested them and wrote observations, finally giving my guess as to which was which. I jumped on a zoom call with some experienced tasters on a podcast and went over the taste test with them.

After several hours of this test, it was revealed which was which. As it turned out, I had correctly labelled the varieties. I believe it was the familiarity to the cherry raspberry alpine notes of the Argentine Malbec, which gave that one away. The Bordeaux has a distinct tongue texture, much like a subtler version of polyphenol concentrate EGCG extracted from Green Tea. I associated this almost velvet texture with the historical quality standards of French wine, and their nutrient density. Although I had not had any of these three wines before, I have had other Argentine Malbecs and previously sampled Bordeaux, which may have effected my ability to correctly guess which was which.