What does it really mean to call a wine “traditional”? Behind an overused term lies history, marketing and territorial identity. Daniele Cernilli reflects on the relationship between memory and modernity, questioning the too casual use of a word that often risks being more evocative than real.
First, let us clarify what “tradition” really means. Strictly speaking, it means to transmit something from one place or era to another. The root is similar to that of “translate” and even “betray.” In the world of wine, to define a label as “traditional” means to recognize it as having precise organoleptic characteristics that can clearly refer to its territorial and stylistic origins.
It also means respecting time-honored viticultural and winemaking practices that can be traced back to the type of wine itself. However, as is often the case, the terms can be ambiguous.
How much does history really matter?
We drink very different wines today than we did in Ancient Rome, for example. Wines as we understand them today-bottled, labeled, and designed as identity products-most likely originated in France and have a history of some 250 or 300 years.
In Italy, the real boom in quality winemaking came in the 1980s. It is no coincidence that many wineries are now celebrating anniversaries between forty and fifty years old: a sign that modern quality viticulture is relatively recent.
Brunello and Amarone, two emblematic cases
Just to give you an example, consider that in 1964, in Montalcino, the wineries producing Brunello were just five or six. Today there are more than two hundred. Yet many wines from these wineries are called “traditional.” But are they really? Is fifty years of history enough to speak of tradition?
And again, we take theAmarone: it is a wine that was invented, in fact, after World War II. Does it make sense to talk about “traditional” Amarone, or is there an underlying contradiction?
Tradition or narrative construction?
These are just useful food for thought. I fully understand that some producers consider it essential to maintain agronomic and oenological practices consistent with thehistorical identity of their wines. However, I would avoid abusing the term “tradition,” which in many cases risks being more of a narrative construction than actual substance.
