Tales from the Vineyard DVD

It is really amazing to me that this DVD dates from 2004, given the huge biasses that are found in it. First, it is obviously aimed at a US market. There are many references to "we Americans", including "When it comes to wine, why are we Americans so chicken?" Hmmmm, I didn't know most Americans WERE chicken :) The DVD tells us that the best wines clearly come from France and proceeds to focus on three regions of France - the Loire, Burgundy, and the South of France. Given that the aim is to help educate wine newbies about wine, if you're going to focus on France, why choose such lesser found regions? Why not focus on regions like Bordeaux and Champagne that people might actually find in a wine shop?

The video hammers home the importance of terroir in France. What's funny here is that most winemakers I talk to feel that terroir was a term invented by the French when they realized they no longer DID have the best wines in the world - but wanted to justify the astronomical prices they were charging. They wanted to say "but French wines are special because ... they are grown in France! And we have special soil!" But really, all terroir means is "a wine is unique based on where it is grown." So that is true for EVERY wine in the world. Australian wines from a given valley will have a special flavor based on that valley's characteristics. A Washington wine from the Yakima Valley has its own special flavor set. This isn't a "French monopoly"! And the word terroir is certainly not a mysterious, unknown quantity only found in France. Every single wine in the world has its own terroir.

So on we go to the Loire. We hear all about the society of the upside down apple pie, and how paranoid the French are about setting down laws to keep everything exactly the same. We get to see videos of skateboarders falling down on classic Cathedral steps. We learn that France has 700 varieties of cheese, each from a specific type of goat or cow, that eats a certain type of food. Oh yes, and we learn that Sancerre - a region of the Loire - is known for its sauvignon blanc.

Next, Burgundy. We start right out with an error. The DVD says that "Cote d'or" stands for the hills of gold - but actually this is just a shorthand for the REAL name of the area, "Cote d'orient" or "east bank" of the river. They talk about how the soil varies greatly, and how two vineyards 50 meters apart can have different compositions. They describe how a given winery might only make 50-1000 cases each year from a few rows of vines - but they don't bother to explain WHY this is true. It's because the inheritance laws cause a father to have to divide his holdings equally amongst his sons, meaning each plot gets smaller and smaller as generations go on. They mention how oak ageing can add vanilla or caramel flavors, and then we're done with Burgundy.

Finally, we're down to the Southern France area. You get a few quick words - Languedoc, Roussilon, Provence. You get some gorgeous images of the Chateauneuf du Pape vineyards and learn how the 7,000 acres are allowed to use 13 varieties of grapes to make their wines, and that 300 independent winemakers share this area. This was probably my favorite part of the DVD.

But the DVD is now over, and the bonus features give you 10 tips on buying wine along with footage of rolling carts. As you can tell by the tone of the review, I really didn't find this video to be helpful at all, compared to the many great DVDs on the market in modern times. Especially as this is aimed at a wine newbie, the information given was very light, on wines not found in most wine shops. The "visual clues" were pretty bad - they would flash a name so quickly you could barely read it, or show the numbers (1, 2, 3) instead of showing the actual tips being emphasized. Some information was misleading and some was just wrong.

Not well recommended.

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