I’ve been coming across a lot of articles recently describing certain wines as “weird” or “unusual” and my personal favourite, “funky”. I think it’s safe to say that these days those terms mean pretty much fuck all. Allow me to elaborate.

Why is a Pet-Nat made with Grolleau weird? Has industrial prosecco made the wine world so boring, so bland, that a drink that has been around for hundreds of years is considered weird? Or how about Assyrtico being coined an unusual grape? I read an article the other day in The Guardian that called Greek wines made with indigenous varieties “unusual”. I know the author was not trying to disparage, but dude, Assyrtico has been around for thousands of years! Maybe it’s the Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand that was planted in the not-so-distant-past that should be deemed unusual.

But the term that probably pisses me off the most is “funky”. What the hell does that mean? It tastes like a bass riff from a James Brown song? Or, is it full of defects like super high volatile acidity, unbearable levels of Brett or a bacterial population that makes the wine taste like fermented corn? I’m not trying to be difficult, and I certainly do not want to slam others in the choice of descriptors, but I think we have a New Normal. After decades of the Tyranny of Homogenized and Sterilized Wines Made from Recipes Prescribed by Consultants and Wine Guide Writers, there is a return to wines made with authenticity in mind, as in wines that have been made in certain ways with certain grapes for a very long time.

The New Normal is mostly due to an engaged population of wine drinkers who are curious, thirsty, and willing to be adventurous. They mostly make up their own minds on what they like, and these days, it involves a lot of grapes that were once forgotten, vinified with little or no oak (that you can taste), are high in drinkability and low in alcohol. In Quebec these days it’s not unusual to drink wines made with Xynomavro, orange wines are not weird, and Pinot Noir made in a whole cluster, semi-carbo style is no longer funky. Maybe the “weird” wine should be the sweet, over-oaked Chardonnay from a producer who uses 120 mg of SO2.

Long Live the New Normal!