UNFILTERED: Artisan Wine and The Ship of Theseus

Artisan Wine and the Ship of Theseus
A conversation with Onye Ahanotu and Dr. Kaan Kurtural

The Ship of Theseus is the classic puzzle of material constitution: If every wooden plank of a ship is replaced over time, is it still the same ship?

In this talk, we explore how modern viticulture and food science are testing the boundaries of what we consider ‘authentic’ wine.

Dr. Kaan Kurtural of Kurtural Wines is a leader in viticultural research and managed UC Davis’ experimental vineyard in Oakville for a decade, focusing on techniques to adapt viticultural practices to our changing climate. Along the way, Dr. Kurtural calls into question the static nature of terroir. If we can precision-edit the soil’s organic composition to dictate expression in grapes, what happens to the sanctity of place?

Rather than transforming the land to drive expression, Onye Ahanotu of Ikenga Wines skips some intermediates. He uses state-of-the-art food science to replicate the ephemeral qualities of palm wine, an ancient category that would be destructive at scale using conventional agriculture. If the sensory experience is identical, does it matter that it was (bio)designed rather than found?

Onye and Kaan create compelling wines with extraordinary skill and intention. While they both operate at the other end of the spectrum from natural and low-intervention winemakers, they are working toward balancing preservation and experience, and may very well be making the wines of the future right now.