Response to Karen MacNeil's 'Nothing Left to Say? The End of Wine Writing'

by Nikita Malhotra
April 9, 2024

I have heard that ‘print is dead’ for many years now, I certainly haven’t had the issue of smudges on my fingers from flipping through a newspaper in many years. Now it is the imminent threat of a doomscroll taking over my entire afternoon, my thumbs feel as if they are in the early stages of arthritis, and this makes me miss ink stains. So when someone points out the lack of wine writing in the conventional setting of a publication, I can take a moment to grieve. But nostalgia aside, I have never let this argument take away from my conviction that there is more information and exchange of ideas in regards to wine than previously. My response to Karen’s MacNeil’s latest article, ‘NOTHING LEFT TO SAY? THE END OF WINE WRITING,’ is just that; it might be the end of wine writing in the sense that she envisions what wine writing used to be, but the explosion of diversity we are met with far exceeds our need to mourn.

I want to first tackle this sentence from MacNeil: “One thing is true: writers cannot write moving stories—can’t emotionally touch readers-—unless winemakers and viticulturists have something moving to say.” So we are left with the statement that writers are a conduit for winemakers to express themselves, and that wine writing exists upon the assumption that the winemaker has something substantial to say. And yet both statements rely on the judgement of the writer, and if we take away the need for such a writer what happens to the narrative? Can we pivot the responsibility of context and narrative of the wine away from the writer and return it to the winemaker, because it seems like that has already naturally occurred, and this applies to the absence of the critic as well as the traditional writer.

It certainly feels like an echo chamber when we have to hear a wine writer who started decades ago bemoan the state of their existence in the contemporary world. Does the world need emotional resonance to enjoy wine? It might sound as if I fully embrace the world of influencers and direct contact with winemakers and conversations with collectors, but I privilege beautiful prose over all of it. ‘Wayward Tendrils of the Vine’ by Ian Maxwell Campbell is a book I return to constantly; it inspires me to spend an evening with a glass of wine and recognize how, with each sip, I gain some insight. It’s a snapshot of a historical period, a hermeneutical undertaking that entertains the reader like a novel from the Gilded Age. And how different is that writing to the writing of a wine writer who tells me that I should try Mt. Etna whites because it is an undiscovered region?

Karen touches on how important it is for the writer to visit and to experience the world of the winemaker, and this is an important delineation between her idea of the writer and the critic. But, what happens when the oenophile and consumer of wine has their own chance to experience that world, what can be greater than that? Even social media presents an avenue and depth of experience more compelling to that of the wordsmith.

‘The Wine Bible’ by Karen MacNeil was an important book for me when I started upon this journey in the wine world, but so was Levi Dalton’s podcast, a form of media that continues in the tradition of creating narrative and context and framing the wine and the winemaker. I used to enjoy Joe Dressner’s blog as well. With wit and determination, he presented an alternative narrative that launched many ideas and themes in wine that have persisted almost two decades after his passing. Noble Rot is a publication I force on people because it is fresh and compelling and gives a glimpse of just how many topics and themes wine intersects with. But looking forward, I appreciate certain aspects of the wine influencer because of the diversity; there is a space that presents itself as more open and accepting than the space once inhabited by the wine writer. Those who hope that wine continues to be appreciated by younger generations should be aware of this sense of space, because gate keeping will not help the future of fine wine. And Karen’s point at the beginning of her piece about the decline of wine overall speaks to this.

In the end, I would say that it might just be a new era of wine writing, where we have winemakers able to communicate directly, where critics can’t just use a point system to justify their opinions, where two brothers getting into wine can share their journey and tasting notes with the world and where writers continue to write about wine utilizing the many forms of media that are at their disposal. I am just glad that I am able to consume more wine media then was available when print was ‘alive.’