At a recent casual gathering of fine wine lovers, the main course was chicken in the basket. Having admitted to the gathered that I had no idea what this was, I was immediately accused of being a snob and that I had forgotten my roots.

Well. I do drink rather a lot of wine and now I’m past 50. So I might forget a few things here and there but I have very vivid memories of excellent poulet de Bresse, Label Rouge chicken or poulet fermier du Gers. I cannot remember exactly whether they were served in a bag, a box or bucket. Most likely they were served on a very normal, good, old-fashioned plate.

Anyway... the point I am trying to make is that it seems alien to me to give note of how a certain meal is served and not to where the ingredients are coming from, when clearly the latter is what really counts in terms of flavour, texture, juiciness and quality.

For some reason, Kentucky fried chicken is coming to mind and to prove that I am not a snob, I speak of my recollection of the one time I’ve been to KFC. Now, I don’t know whether the millions of chickens this fast food chain uses come from Kentucky, but what is for sure is that what makes KFC popular is the branded, breaded mixture of spices and flavourings that completely obliterates any natural flavour the chicken might have. Crunchy? Yes. Spicy? Yes. Fun? Yes. Does it taste of chicken? No.

Italian chef Marco Pinelli, who is back in the kitchens of Palazzo Parisio, recently noted that to most Maltese people, a chicken is a chicken and that, apparently, not many of us are aware of the varying flavours a chicken, or any other animal, might have according to feed, area and breeding practices. Pinelli understands the importance of quality ingredients and has recently introduced chickens grown in the village of Bresse near Burgundy in France at the Palazzo’s kitchens.

Many argue that taste is very subjective and everyone should be free to decide for themselves. But are we really free? Can it be that globalisation and big business are influencing our taste and that advertising of fake, industrial products and, more importantly, their accessibility is influencing us when it comes to decide what we like or not? What is good or not? Worse than that, are we changing our perception and criteria of what constitutes certain products?

Many argue that taste is very subjective and everyone should be free to decide for themselves. But are we really free?

How many think that pizza should be like the ones served at Pizza Hut? Have Wudy sausages changed our opinion of what sausages should look and taste like? What about our bread?

Not long ago, I held a tasting of different Maltese breads among some well-trained palates and was amazed at the varying opinions of what constitutes good Maltese bread.

Now to wine… technological, agrochemical, scientific developments and global marketing in the wine industry are also creating a real danger of altering people’s perception of what wine should taste like.

Cultured yeasts, fermentation enzymes and flying wine-makers/consultants are leading to the standardisation of wine and the destruction of the ‘typicity’ of many wines whose quality criterias are based on specific geo/cultural and climatic conditions.

Take, for example, Sauvignon Blanc. Since the explosion in popularity of New Zealand’s pungent, aromatic versions of this very European grape, many consumers are shunning the elegant, mineral outputs of classical areas such as Sancerre or Graves.

This has led to some producers changing wine-making techniques to produce a more New Zealand-like wine, in accordance with market demands.

Closer to home, I am consistently tasting Sicilian wines, which feel and taste more like overblown Californian or Australian reds. Even on the Etna, with its magical microclimate that can naturally produce wonderful, elegant, long-lived wines, one can now find examples of meaningless, mouth-shattering wines which are easy to understand, immediately appealing but quickly forgotten.

People in the know will continue to enjoy the typical wines of, for example, Terre Nere, but in order to protect this ‘typicity’ for future generations, we must emphasise their importance today.

People who work with wine and food have a responsibility to ensure the future of real, genuine products by ensuring that firstly they themselves know the products they are working with; to understand the link between the history, the land, the producers, the retailers and the end user. Each have an important role to play.

I suppose we are back to that old French word terroir. Terroir is the DNA of all great wines of the world. It gives wine its identity, its typicity.

It is the one single factor which, for over 5,000 years, has fired and still fires the passion and enthusiasm of wine lovers everywhere. The message is simple.

We have a responsibility to uphold the spirit of true wine. Just like a chicken that does not taste of chicken is only food, a wine with no typicity has no soul and a wine without a soul is only a drink.

mike@michaeltabone.com