We live in a particular historical period, of so-called hypercommunication, where many, if not all, of us have spaces to express ideas and opinions. Unfortunately, we often end up multiplying voices without increasing understanding between people. Points of view, indeed opinions, are communicated, often with force and controversy, without increasing mutual listening and instead risking reducing the ability of the listener or reader to delve deeper into the topics, grasping their objective aspects. .
This is why those who disseminate today, those who dedicate themselves to the never easy task of doing research and studying the issues and then explaining them to others, deserve particular attention. An excellent example of this approach is that of Michele Antonio FinoPiedmontese, associate professor of Fundamentals of European Law inUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, where he also leads the “Dell’origine. Identity, authenticity and contradictions of food”. Through social media, and in particular on Instagram with the account @ermezio, he very often dedicates himself to in-depth analysis and analysis of delicate and complex topics.
In 2021 he published, with Anna Claudia Cecconi And Andrea Bezzecchithe book “Gastronationalismo” (for the publishing house People), with which he anticipated highly topical themes, such as the use of gastronomic traditions (or presumed such) for reasons of parochial pride which often lead to nationalist propaganda. Very recently, on May 14th, “I don’t drink it – Enjoying wine consciously without marketing or fads”, published by Mondadori (you can buy it here), which in the liner notes we find described as “a courageous action of debunking the fads and legends that marketing has skilfully slipped into the glasses that we raise to the sky every day”.
«The first objective of “I don’t buy it” – he tells us Until – is to debunk the stories that are told about wine. Because wine is among the typical foods of the culture of this country, a food that has a very long history and which carries with it a considerable load of identity values. Many have tried to use more or less well-founded stories and narratives to sell the product better, to make it more popular, to impose it perhaps even with some nationalistic accent, linking it to a presumed Mediterranean and specifically Italian identity. In short, we all love to think that wine is culture: however, wine is first and foremost a food product, a market good, and the culture of wine has been built around this, not regardless of this.”
Michele Antonio Finofrom Piedmont from Revello, born in 1973
An excellent example of this approach is the chapter with which the book opens, entitled “Wine has always been made this way (indeed, not)”, in which we start from the belief, rooted in many of us, that making wine is a thousand-year-old practice that has been handed down almost intact to us.
«Wine has always been made, the practices are actually thousands of years old – the author explains further – the problem is that there is a before and after 1860, that is, the moment in which Pasteur understands and demonstrates that producing wine is a microbiological issue. Until then there was a strong debate among connoisseurs and experts at a scientific level, there were those who argued that wine was a physical issue, a chemical issue and not a microbiological one. So much so that in many Italian dialects, and in mine in particular, they don’t say ferment, they say boil: the fact that the wine develops heat during the fermentation phase was associated with a physical change of state. Until 1860, practices related to wine production repeated gestures that had worked previously. After the publication of the studies by Pasteureveryone understood the scientific reality of winemaking and started making dry wines by applying the same procedures: so even if today we rediscover ancient techniques, terracotta vases like the Romans did, we cannot ignore Pasteur and from the knowledge that has been codified.”
It’s just one example of the many themes that Michele Fino addresses in the pages of “Non me la bevo”, which continues by recounting the birth and evolution – between Soldiers, Veronelli and contemporary visions no logo – of the concept of peasant wineputting in the right perspective the statements that would establish its superiority compared to industrial wine. Or touching on another very topical topic, which concerns the relationship between wine and health: there are two chapters that address this relationship, both from a more legislative and political point of view, in particular in relation to European regulations, and from a angle that once again examines the narratives: what they tell us and what we like to tell ourselves about the wine that would make “good blood”.
Until it then talks about labels and the information we can gather by reading them carefully, the history of Italian designations of origin (spoiler: even in this case they are less ancient than we often think), the differences between organic, biodynamic, vegan and natural wine. Continuing his work of demystification and at the same time of dissemination. Thus providing further and valuable tools for understanding and future analysis to readers. Who will continue to be passionate about wine, but with greater awareness.
