God only knows

No wine critic can stop the rise of brands.  To assume that they can is either naive or egotistical, but to suggest that the rise of brands is some how inextricably linked with the death of wine writings is equally wrong.

"COLUMNATED ruins domino." I know.  Mike Ladd of the Beach Boys didn’t understand it either. In fact, his refusal to sing that line from Surf’s Up is credited as being one of the reasons why the recording of Brian Wilson’s masterpiece Smile was abandoned.  Yet, when you read it in context of the song it does make sense. 

Surf’s Up is about entropy, the "columnated ruins domino" alludes to both the domino theory of communist expansion [this was the 1960s remember] and also the ruins of old civilisations.  It’s a song about nostalgia and a rejection of it, in preference to accepting the inevitability of change and looking forward.

"Surf’s up! Aboard a tidal wave, come about hard and join the young."  It seems appropriate enough that this springs to mind, given this is my last column.  It’s tempting at times like this to look back, but as the song suggests it’s always best to look into the future optimistically.

There are other, bigger and far more important, "ruined columns".  At the time of writing Malcolm Gluck had just resigned his position as the Guardian’s "wine critic". 

Whether or not his departure was actually down to money matters, his stated reason for packing it in went as follows: "It’s not just things at the Guardian … it’s the whole way the world of wine has changed.  Wine columns need to change.

There are so many brands now that are not necessarily very good that you have to ask yourself ‘Are wine critics useful any more?’"  This is an intriguing argument.  For starters, it infers that wine critics actually affect the way in which the trade operates which may be the case in the US, but thankfully isn’t in the UK.

This country doesn’t need someone with that amount of influence.  Critics comment, they criticise, they educate, they recommend.  That’s it.  No wine critic can stop the rise of brands. To assume that they can is either naive or egotistical, but to suggest that the rise of brands is somehow inextricably linked with the death of wine writing is equally wrong.

I agree that wine columns need to change.  For starters, they need to stop being little more than supermarket shopping lists.  There is a real need for drinks writing, but before we can move forward we have to address the issue of how drink has become marginalised.

Rather than being part of a lifestyle offering, drinks are an editorial after-thought.  The marginalisation of any subject leads to it either becoming overly simplistic (the shopping list syndrome) or selfref( v)erential and hermetic.

By appealing to a niche audience, the writing becomes so specialised that only those who understand the rules (and believe, wrongly, that there should be rules in the first place) get any enjoyment from it.

Wine, through no fault of the writers, is becoming the same as specialised musical forms like jazz.  The good news, however, is that 2004 saw a small increase in coverage of drink on TV. Though nothing compared to a decade ago it is a small step in the right direction. Print is another matter.

Wine columns are under pressure, other drinks are barely written about – this is happening at a time when sales of drink continue to rise.  Perhaps we are at the bottom of a long cycle, but Gluck is right.

Wine writing (or rather drinks writing) has to change and change it must, because in these days of mega-brands, retailer power and consumer brainwashing and a growing anti-alcohol lobby there needs to be a reasoned and articulate analysis of the situation.

Lists have had their day, what is needed are writers who are able (and willing) to act as journalists: ask the difficult and awkward questions, find new angles in which to talk about drink, food politics, fashion, trends etc; but not lose sight of how this subject above all also needs to be about entertainment and fun.  Ultimately, it is about education.

Surf’s up! I’m off.