Britų vyno ekspertas Hugh Johnson'as mielai sutiko duoti interviu www.vynai.com, kuris spausdinamas 2005 12 30 dienraščio "Lietuvos rytas" priede "Savaitgalis" Nr. 50 (423). Pateikiame skaitytojams anglišką interviu variantą.
Foto: "The Sunday Times Wine Club"
1. What did wine mean then and what does it mean to you in the new millennium?
It means conviviality, refreshment, good digestion and sound sleep. It means a vast variety of intriguingly related flavours. It means a historical culture closely related to many beautiful places. It means an international freemasonary of like-minded and often generous and happy people.
2. How did you come to wine?
It just flowed – in my family (my father was a lawyer), at university and among my friends. It was always there, and I was lucky enough to notice how fascinating it could be.
3. The first book already in 1966 in relatively young age of yours not to mention editorship three years earlier! How did the books become a life-long project?
They earned me a living doing what I wanted, I was lucky with my timing: the 1960s were a great time for having fun and opening new avenues.
4. You have written a great deal (around 20) of great books? How far still to go? (please, do not stop :)
I have written about a dozen books on wine, plus others on gardening and trees. They all need updating constantly, which keeps me, my colleagues and publishers busy. But wine is not the only thing I like to write about.
5. As for your books: any feedback from Lithuanian, Baltic or Nordic readers?
Surprisingly little feed back from readers anywhere, strange to say.
6. Writing about wine: how to avoid promoting alcohol consumption?
I suspect people who read about wine have already decided in favour of alcohol. I believe wine, in its proper context of mealtimes, is alcohol in its most beneficial form.
7. If it was not for wine, who would Hugh Johnson be by now?
Probably a travel writer of another kind, with leanings towards history and natural history, and certainly trees.
8. Wine writing by others? Your favourites, recommendations? Any?
Of contemporary writers, Jancis Robinson for facts, Andrew Jefford for style, Michael Broadbent for information about old bottles, Margaret Rand for wry wit, Michael Bettane for common sense, James Halliday for Australia.
Of historic writers, André Sallien, Cyrus Redding, Emila Peynaud…. even Chaptal’s Traité Sur La Vigne.
9. The wine of your dreams? Any left?
I rarely think of wines I have not yet tasted. It is hard enough to keep up with reality. But the wines I like are not overstressed or over strong. I look for harmony and liveliness in everything I drink. I do not drink ‘blockbusters’
10. The feeling of the oldest wine you ever tasted?
Awe that something could have lived so long and still be consumable with pleasure (after more than 400 years). My oldest wine was a 1540 Steinwein from the cellars of King Ludwig of Bavaria; a historical anomaly but a memorable lesson in the longevity of any natural living substance. Other wines I have had from the 19th century have provoked the same reaction of wonder.
11. Behind cobwebs: any chance to take a virtual peep at you cellar?
My new book Wine: A Life Uncorked (2005, Weidenfeld & Nicolson) is an invitation to come with me round my cellar and hear my thoughts on its contents.
12. What is the most important in wine making and selling in the era of globalisation and global warming? Still terroir?
Terroir is not something you discover straight away. It may be many years and many vintages before the peculiar qualities of certain patches of ground emerge or are understood. Even then they have to take their place in the local wine culture. I believe that eventually all quality wine regions will become aware of their own terroirs and exploit them, as parts of California (e.g. Rutherford, Stags Leap) and Australia (e.g. Hill of Grace, Gaia) are now doing.
13. Which countries in Eastern and Central Europe have the greatest potential to become New World of the Old World?
Tokaj in Hungary is clearly the one known and accepted great region of Central Europe, but I expect it will eventually be followed by great wines from other parts of Hungary, Romania, Moldova, possibly Bulgaria, the Crimea and certainly Georgia. But we must be patient.
14. Your opinion about wine culture in new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe?
I have recently returned from Moscow, where I met writers and sommeliers and was delighted to see how rapidly the understanding of wine was growing in Russia. I know it first-hand in Hungary where I have been involved in making Tokay for 15 years. Things are not easy in countries recovering from Communism, but recent progress is more and more encouraging. I travel more to producing countries than to consuming ones so my knowledge of the Baltic states is not as good as it should be.
15. Differentiation and change of wine drinking habits in UK and US?
Americans are famous for saying ‘I want the best and I want it now’. The British view sees two problems here: ‘the best’ is too simple a concept for wine, and impatience doesn’t suit wine either. Unless you understand that close attention, personal choice and willingness to wait are the essence of appreciation you won’t get much ‘bang for your buck’. Sadly the public face of connoisseurship these days is old-fashioned wine snobbery; simply conspicuous consumption. Of course there are exceptions, but the 100-point system is a fatal encouragement to snobs.
I am not saying the U.K. is perfect, but I am always astonished by how many people (to be fair, in America, too) pursue their own tastes, even if they cannot afford very fine wines, and take satisfaction in subtle differences and modest values.
16. Cork or screwcap?
Screwcaps are the logical closure for wine with a naturally short shelf-life. They have no real track-record for wines that need long-term maturation. We shall see.
17. A take-away message for Lithuanian wine enthusiasts, thank you.
Stay open-minded and curious, try everything, don’t waste your money hankering after the same wines as everybody else, watch the alcohol levels (wines of 14% and above are usually unbalanced) – and Happy Christmas!