Typicité: Am I Your Type?

No. I'm not asking about me. I'm talking about the wines you just bought.

Let's talk typicity.

In my previous post regarding the power of France in the wine world, I touched on the concept of typicity, meaning that wines express certain unique and unmatched characteristics that distinguish them from one region to another. Hence, in this manner, a wine is typical of an appellation or area of origin.

This is a topic of gravitas, yet graspable nonetheless, because it assists consumers of the wine market in becoming more knowledgable about their decision making process for purchasing, and understanding if the specific bottles they choose are of accurate value and will show expected character.

As an example, let's take the King of Reds, Cabernet Sauvignon. Thanks to champions of big, bold reds, such as Robert Parker and his years of experience, along with his talented tasting staff, Cabernet Sauvignon is often associated with heavy tannin, black and red fruits, and for warmer climate producers, a more robust body and lengthier finish.

Bordeaux blends can range from the powerful, cassis heavy, dry-finishing St. Estéphe, to the fruit-hugged Pauillac, to straight-laced gravelly St. Julien, a mid-weight Margaux filled with finesse and elegance, to the rich yet linear Pessac-Léognan expressions.

Whereas Bordeaux is led with earth and terroir, its California single-varietal counterparts in Napa and Sonoma are highly fruit-driven and weighty on the palate. Opulent, intense in dark concentration, dense with high levels of supple tannin, Napa Cabernet Sauvignons use French oak quite liberally and are marked by black fruit and alcohol-based sweetness. (Here, you see my tasting of Heitz Cellar's signature Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford and a highly complex Lot C-91, both of which represent and are unquestionably typical of the classic Napa expression.)

Sonoma, on the other hand, is Napa's more silk-gloved sibling, having cooler vineyards that retain some green note to the finished wine. Still with powerful tannin and dark berries and plum leading the way, Sonoma presents yet an elegantly balanced Cab Sauvignon.

Chile presents a vibrant expression of this powerful red grape, yet the terroir allows for the maintenance of high acid, which becomes evident in the energetic Cabernet Sauvignons they produce. Washington State's more savory and much drier versions show less complete ripeness yet are intense nonetheless. Australia's Margaret River showcases a distinct aroma of pyrazine green, resulting in a more herbaceous Cabernet, whereas Coonawarra's warmer climate is exuberant and concentrated with dark fruit.

From this illustration, we can see that factors such as climate, soil, location, and of course winemaking practices, come together to execute the typical representation of a region's Cabernet Sauvignon. This, of course, also applies to all of the other varietals that go into making premium wines. Whether it is a focused and sophisticated White Burgundy or a voluptuous palate-heavy Chardonnay from Napa, or a Kabinett from the Mosel versus a piercingly acid-driven Riesling from the Finger Lakes, typicity is a valuable indicator to the quality and standards by which wineries revere grapes and their resultant products.