Column Niek: the deceptive dream

Niek Beute is editor-in-chief of WINELIFE. Every edition he writes a column, in this issue 'The deceptive dream'. TEXT + IMAGE NIEK BEUTE

Who has not dreamt of having their own chateau, located on a beautiful hill surrounded by vineyards? I too can dream away at the idea of spending my days in Provence with a small wine estate overlooking the sea. But soon the bubble bursts and I realise that making wine is more than a Villa Felderhof lifestyle. Making wine is hard work. With the threat of doom lurking everywhere. With so many external factors affecting the outcome of the wine. And with Mother Nature being the most unpredictable factor.

Wine and nature

More than ever this year, nature is showing its merciless and destructive power. Vineyards in France, for instance, have taken gigantic hits from frost and hail. It was so severe in the Jura that one wonders if any wine from this vintage will reach the market at all. If the buds freeze to pieces and no more bunches emerge, as a winemaker you are painfully tending a vineyard for a year where perhaps nothing will be harvested. That must be unbearably sad.

Seeing the images from the Ahr, where the entire area has been swept away by devastating water, tears spring to my eyes. An area that has so much ambition, is working so hard for quality and is home to so many passionate winemakers. So I write this with a lump in my throat. From vineyard to cellar; everything has been destroyed. And suddenly winemaking is not
more romantic, but tragic. And the only thing we can do to honour winemakers is to serve their wines.

[…]

Read the rest of Niek's column in Winelife 73. Order this one here!

Don't want to miss a single edition? Subscribe then subscribe to Winelife Magazine now!

Want to stay up to date with the best articles? Follow Winelife magazine on Instagram, Facebook and sign up for our fortnightly newsletter.