Making the science of wine accessible
1 November 2006

Winemaker Chris Williams welcomes a book that has already become something of a classic
 

Wine science. The application of science in winemaking
by Jamie Goode (Mitchell Beazley, 2005; £30 in UK)

There is no doubt that the quality of wine in general has improved immeasurably over the last 50 years, with the discovery and applications of the knowledge generally termed ‘wine science’ or ‘Oenology and viticulture’ in academic terms. The improvements in quality, quantity and modest prices of the wines of the world are in large part due to the advances made in the efficient growing of grape vines and the vinification of those grapes. Up to now the gatekeepers to this knowledge have been slightly odd gentlemen in white lab coats, puttering around their experiments. In too many cases they have either not really been wine lovers or were not able to communicate clearly and passionately with the average wine consumer in a way that was interesting or even understandable. It did not help that most of this knowledge was published or discussed primarily in French, German, Italian, or, in South Africa, Afrikaans.

It has been obvious for some time that an English language book about interesting topics in wine science presented clearly, without the formulas, complex chemical structures, graphs and statistics incomprehensible except to someone with a PhD in chemistry, would be most welcome to those who love wine and want to know a bit more about this side of it. Now Jamie Goode (who does havea PhD – in plant biology) has succeeded admirably in putting together just such a guide.

While Goode himself mentions that his book is far from comprehensive, it does give the casual reader more than sufficient coverage of the main topics encompassed in this subject: broadly, viticulture, winemaking and wine drinking. What Goode does is extrapolate several of the key ‘buzzword’ topics currently used (and overused) in the wine world, such as terroir, global warming, genetic modification, IPM, biodynamics, precision viticulture, micro-oxygenation, reverse osmosis, Brettanomyces, wine and health, and alternative closures.
 

The juicy issues
A very useful introduction asks what the importance of the application of a scientific approach to this subject could be, with a brief discussion of the scientific method and the use of statistics, but these topics are only outlined and Goode quickly moves on to the more juicy issues. Goode writes in a lucid, direct and engaging style, but avoids the temptation to ‘dumb down’ his topic to the point of irrelevance.

He notes the risk that an overly scientific analysis of such a complex and interesting subject may demystify wine to the extent that it no longer enthralls us, but argues that the more understanding and knowledge an imbiber possesses about wine, the more they would be able to enjoy it. Demystification need not mean that wine loses any of the attraction and magic that we ascribe to it, and this is the reason why he does not pass judgment on any of his chosen topics such as biodynamics or precision viticulture: he presents the facts and some dialogue surrounding each viewpoint.

What makes the book so readable is that it presents the spirit of scientific approach without the mind-numbing tedium of many scientific papers. The tone is conversational yet direct, and never descends into the colloquialism and ‘mateyness’ of some other wine literature (especially some emanating from Australia and Britain). The reader gets the sense that Goode genuinely wants to inform rather than draw attention to his own extensive knowledge and experience.

Goode is as up to date as is possible in such a publication in a field where progress is continuously being made. He approaches each topic from the viewpoint of its interest to the lay- person, leaving discussion and argument of the minutiae of scientific phenomena to those aforementioned odd people in lab-coats.

I especially enjoyed the chapters on micro-organisms in wine, including spoilage yeasts and bacteria, and his discussion of micro-oxygenation and regulated deficit irrigation and found the index and glossary to be concise and useful. The book is illustrated with very instructive black and white photographs and clear schematic representations of processes and tabulae of relevant data.

One omission I felt was the lack of discussion of the chemistry and processes of bottle maturation of wines (obviously more interesting and complex in reds). Admittedly Goode does mention that this is an area of wine science where much work remains to be done, but even a short discussion outlining the elements at play would have been useful.

All told, this work is a very welcome addition to any wine library, as long as there is a more than passing interest and acquaintance with wine. Over recent weeks I have used the book as both a reference work and a casual read and that is its strength: genuine elucidation and exploration of some quite gritty scientific principles while remaining interesting and engaging enough to read for pleasure.

Deservedly, Goode won the 2006 Glenfiddich Drink Book of the Year Award for Wine science. It is not cheap at around R450 locally, but it is hardly a mainstream topic and it is gratifying that such a useful addition to wine literature has been imported into South Africa in the first place.

Note on websites
Jamie Goode has a useful and interesting online wine magazine – The wine anorak. There is a specific area on the website which is billed as a ‘companion site’ to this book – (it’s not easy to find from the home page, so click here for it). It tells more about the book, has some complementary articles and some links to relevant websites.

• Chris Williams is the winemaker at Meerlust and The Foundry.

COMMENT

From Clive Sindelman:
Mr Goode also has a book called The science of wine: from vine to glass, published in March 2006. The price is $23 on Amazon, a lot cheaper than Wine science at $40. This may be a value alternative worth investigating.