Wine needs a new language. Everyone says so, even sommeliers.

The meeting titled, “The language of wine, from training to social media” organized by AIS-Associazione Italiana Sommelier, led by Sandro Camilli, was held recently in Naples, and gave a clear signal. The sommelier world, on the whole, has had the lead role in a “tumultuous growth” of technical terms in wine language, which in certain contexts is obviously useful and appropriate. However, using it excessively has often been, in the recent past, the object of parodies and mockery (one of the most famous, now epic, by the comedian and actor, Antonio Albanese).
Wine needs to find a new language to communicate and tell its story to the world. We have been saying it for a long time (and we are working on it daily at WineNews). Perhaps we must return to the language from the early “Veronelli” days; that is, Gino Veronelli, as well as form the “Soldati” days, that is, Mario Soldati. Then, the language of wine was linked to deep and general culture, not specialized, like it is today. Moreover, the language focused more on what is on the outside of wine and what revolves around it - the territories, history, culture, values, food, the table and conviviality. Wine must become a strong voice, and no longer be alone, as it has been over the past several years and still is today. It needs to be choral, maybe hitting some high notes to narrate its fascinating world with a new melody, accenting emotions more than the technical and tasting concepts (though they are fundamental in some contexts, as we have mentioned). These are thoughts that - thanks to a significant drop in consumption, after years of growth, and many studies that have emphasized (perhaps even somewhat exaggerated), young people’s disinterest - have become an almost daily “refrain” in the wine world, and the central theme of the meeting.
“We must avoid the self-referential tendency and instead invest in listening to others. The modesty of Giampaolo Gravina, philosopher and popularizer, who spent a lifetime talking about wine in a new language (and who recently passed away), is an important lesson to follow”, Sandro Camilli said. Furthermore, speaking about labeling, at the European level, he added, “we need to have a balanced approach, far away from ideologies and rigidity. We need to focus on quality and defending the cultural value of wine”. “My goal is to make people love wine. For a very long time, my slogan has been "from the experience of taste to the taste of experience", because I think we need to feel wine as a “whole”, which goes beyond flavor and aroma. Over the years, I have tried to build differently from the conventional ways, and pay more attention to inclusiveness”, Nicola Perullo, philosopher and sensory expert continued.
“We need to use a coherent language, it must invest in the connection to the territory, and correctly communicate the wine world”, Tommaso Luongo, president of AIS Campania added. Camillo Privitera (Eventi AIS) observed, “this conference has created a valuable opportunity to gather ideas and examine a very current topic”, while Giulia Sattin, blogger and digital communicator, stated, “more and more attention needs to be paid to quality content, which must be continually streamlined, understandable, and simple. We must try to make people live an experience, encouraging them to find each other”.
According to the oenologist Roberto Cipresso, “wine has gone from the methanol crisis to Artificial Intelligence, and fake news. There are two categories of wines. The one that gives satisfaction, through identity, cleanliness, order and pairing, and consistent with their varietal character. Then, there are wines that are exciting, the ones where tasting is a journey, a film, an experience. I believe the priority is to bring emotion into this world through a universal language”. Cristiano Cini (Didattica AIS) commented that “the most important part of the wine world is linked to experience. The classical canons are definitely important, but modern teaching must open up, we need to communicate a new and contemporary model. Today, giving people an exciting experience is everything”.