We have already talked about the qualitative growth of “second wines,” but it is one thing to recognize their quality, and another to reward them as being better than first wines. In this case, a kind of short circuit is created: if the second wine is better than the first, why isn’t he the top of the line from the point of view of the winemaker who produces both?
As everyone knows next to each winery’s “top of the line” wines there are others that represent the “second wines.” In Bordeaux they are very famous, for example. So next to Cheval Blanc is Petit Cheval, next to Lafite is Carruades de Lafite, and so on. Here the second wines of Sassicaia and Ornellaia are Guidalberto and Le Serre Nuove, respectively, while in the Langa, but also in Burgundy, it is the prestige of the different “cru” that determines whether that Barolo or that Barbaresco is a first or a second wine. Or the different appellation, so it is a Langhe Nebbiolo and not a Barolo, for example. Or a Bolgheri Rosso and not a Bolgheri Superiore.
The fact is. so-called “second wines” have their own value, a definite market placement, because they cost less than their older brothers, and sometimes a very high organoleptic value. However, not comparable with that of “first wines,” at least according to the owners of the wineries that produce them and their technical staff.
Ho notato però che negli ultimi anni, da parte di diversi critici, il “gap” tra i primi e i secondi vini si è molto ristretto nei punteggi e in parecchi casi i premi sono stati assegnati proprio a questi ultimi, relegando i primi vini a comprimari in qualche modo.
Un segno dei tempi? Scelte stilistiche che contraddicono quelle dei produttori? Operazioni di marketing legate alla maggiore vendibilità dei “secondi vini”? Probabilmente un po’ di tutto questo.
It is a fact that such operations cause some backlash. The most obvious is An open challenge to the choices of the various wineries and their production managers. If I awarded Le Serre Nuove and not Ornellaia, for example, I would not show much consideration for the winery and its basic choices, since the best grapes go into Ornellaia. That is just one example, of course, that has not happened so far. Others have happened, though. Reds from Montalcino instead of Brunelli, Valpolicella Ripasso instead of Amaroni. Why are they more usable and less expensive? That could be one explanation.
Certainly these are choices that manifest little regard for those who produce a second wine judged better than the first, demonstrating at the very least little technical awareness. A judgment in fact very critical and scathing.
