Cheating in Burgundy

As linked in Terroirist, TomWark poses an interesting question:
TomWark/Cheating

about the creation of a hail shield in Burgundy and if it is, thereby, altering the sacrosanct "terroir" of Burgundy.

I find it interesting that a BioDynamic grower in Burgundy, who would be loath to add SO2 or tartaric or yeast (but has absolutely no ethical problem w/ chaptalization) to his wine endorses this wholesale corruption of the Burgundy "terroir".
Just like in the real world around us today, it is increasingly occupied by nothing but hypocrites.

The positions that people take on this issue are utterly predictable. The lovers of Burgundy wine will shrug their shoulders and argue that it makes for better wines and, therefore, this naked corruption of Burgundy "terroir" is perfectly OK. Those others will gleefully point out that this unethical modification of Burgundy "terroir" is corrupt and evil and, gawd-forbid, if it is ever used in Barolo or SantaYnez. As for me...who doesn't give a rat's a$$ about Burgundy..."meh". Of course, we'll never know which side is "right" until SweetAlice weighs in on the subject.

Anyway...a very interesting/thought-provoking article by Tom.

Tom...in his best [potstirring.gif] mode.

At first I wondered whether the article was dated 1st April, but no!

What is cheating and what isn't? Grafting against phylloxera, spraying against mildew, warming the vine rows against late frosts, seeding hail clouds; all cheating? Fertilisers to increase yields, growing grass between the rows to reduce yields; cheating?

Vignerons have been trying various ways of avoiding hail damage but with little success so far other than occasionally diverting a cloud to over a neighbour's vineyard. I don't see that reducing hail damage by 48%, which is what is claimed in the Telegraph article, constitutes intolerable interference with the essential character of the terroir. Indeed nature itself is doing that in the form of global warming which increases the incidence of such storms and which is raising the temperature to levels which risk making the cultivation of Pinot Noir problematic, if the traditional Burgundian quality is to be maintained..

[David M. Bueker]

Tom,

0/10 on the troll scale.

[Robin Garr]

Tom,

0/10 on the troll scale.

If by "trolling" you mean "wine-blog clickbaiting," I think you've nailed it, not only on this post but as a general practice.

What is cheating and what isn't? .

Praying to God for a good harvest?

[David M. Bueker]

One serious comment: climate change has already altered the terroir of Burgundy. The dramatic rise in hailstorms is a recent phenomenon.

Burgundy now is not what Burgundy was.

And I for one don't give a shit what Alice thinks about this or any other subject.