Harvest time is always the most exciting time of the year, not always for positive reasons however. Wine, for all its importance if culture and history, is still - at its core - an agricultural product. As such, the grower ceeds much control to Mother Nature. We are never comfortable about the vintage. We're a little more at ease when all the fruit comes in, but then there is the next important matter of when to press wines off the skins.
This is where we are now with our Pinots. All of our fermentations are done in 1.5 ton open-top fermenters. Tom Stutz tastes each of these fermenters (we have over 30 going at any one time) every day tracking the progression of flavors, aromas, sweetness, tannin, and the like until he feels that the wines can come off the skins. We tend to leave our wine in fermenters nearly until the point the caps submerge (this indicates that there is no more production of carbon dioxide, a by-product of fermentation and the substance that keeps the cap afloat).
Once the wine is pressed off the skins you can't go back. You can't add more color, more tannin, more extract (you can technically, but those kinds of manipulations are not in our winemaking playbook). Essentially, the wine is made. Any flavor and aromas changes to the wine will come from the presence (or lack) of new barrels and exposure to oxygen.
Over the course of the next week or so all of our wines will be in barrel undergoing the next phase of their lives.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Touring Monterey County Vineyards
On a recent trip to the Central Coast vineyard sites from which we are sourcing grapes this year, the same conditions that greeted us in Livermore were evident down south: nothing is moving.
Harvest time is a lot like an automobile race except when it comes to grapes you never really know, until the moment it happens, whether it is a sprint, a 500-miler, if the starting flag has really dropped...
Our relatively cool summer continues. And with the cool weather comes slower maturation of fruit. As winemakers, we like this condition. We get slow development of flavors and sugar levels move up only grudgingly. As fruit processors, though, the hurry up and wait conditions are burdensome. The team is ready to sort fruit, crush and de-stem, start fermentations, etc. but they sit idle. The real trouble starts when all the fruit comes in at once...which may be a consequence of the weather this year.
Mission Ranch
The Mission Ranch is located about 115 miles south of Livermore in the Arroyo Seco appellation and was planted by my family in the early '60s. Over 200 acres, the site is planted mostly to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah. From Mission we get the fruit for our Classic Clones blend: Mariafeld, Pommard, Wadensville, and Swann (a new clone for us this year). The photos below show Mission's proximity to the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation up the hill in the background (l) and the new Swann block (r).
Mission is now owned by Steve McIntyre. Our relationship goes back to the early 2000s when he bought the vineyard from the family, and he and his team have done a wonderful job supplying us with gorgeous fruit. The photo below of the Mariafeld block shows how immaculate the fruit and vineyard are.
As of September 15, 2008 the fruit at Mission was sitting at about 20 Brix, at least a couple of weeks away from being ready for harvest. Flavors are developing beautifully, however.
Paraiso Vineyard
This is the most southerly-located vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation from which we source fruit. Owned by Rich Smith, the vineyard site had provided outstanding quality fruit to us for many years...and the views are amazing. In the photo below, we are looking east from Paraiso's Wedding Hill, over the Salinas Valley all the way to the Chalone appellation in the Pinnacles on the east side of the Valley.
Located in the Santa Lucia range about 700 feet above sea level, the Martini and 667 clones have consistently produced wines that are highlighted by bright red cherry, cola, and orange oil notes. The 2006 release of this wine was made exclusively for members of Pinot Noir Program. Planted originally in 1973, the Paraiso block from which we get our fruit has been grafted over the course of time. Sometimes a vine or two is missed when they are top-worked. In the photo below notice the Pinot Noir and Gwerztraminer clusters sharing the same vine.
Sleepy Hollow Vineyard
Juxtaposed to Paraiso Vineyard in the south is the Sleepy Hollow Vineyard in the far northern reaches of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Owned by the Talbott family, this vineyard site produces one of the most distinctive Pinots we offer (think raspberry fruit folded into mushrooms, pine needles, and soy...mmmm! mmmm!).
The photo on the left shows Sleepy Hollow up against the foot of the almost vertical Santa Lucia, the center one shows the Clone 113 block marker (notice that it is planted on its own roots), and the one on the right shows the uppermost rows from which we harvest the Martini clone fruit that is the base for our multi-clone wine.
With weather remaining cool, it will be a few weeks yet before all of our Central Coast fruit is in to the winery. If the last part of the harvest goes as well as the early part, the quality of the fruit...and the wine...should be very high indeed.
Harvest time is a lot like an automobile race except when it comes to grapes you never really know, until the moment it happens, whether it is a sprint, a 500-miler, if the starting flag has really dropped...
Our relatively cool summer continues. And with the cool weather comes slower maturation of fruit. As winemakers, we like this condition. We get slow development of flavors and sugar levels move up only grudgingly. As fruit processors, though, the hurry up and wait conditions are burdensome. The team is ready to sort fruit, crush and de-stem, start fermentations, etc. but they sit idle. The real trouble starts when all the fruit comes in at once...which may be a consequence of the weather this year.
Mission Ranch
The Mission Ranch is located about 115 miles south of Livermore in the Arroyo Seco appellation and was planted by my family in the early '60s. Over 200 acres, the site is planted mostly to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah. From Mission we get the fruit for our Classic Clones blend: Mariafeld, Pommard, Wadensville, and Swann (a new clone for us this year). The photos below show Mission's proximity to the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation up the hill in the background (l) and the new Swann block (r).
Mission is now owned by Steve McIntyre. Our relationship goes back to the early 2000s when he bought the vineyard from the family, and he and his team have done a wonderful job supplying us with gorgeous fruit. The photo below of the Mariafeld block shows how immaculate the fruit and vineyard are.
As of September 15, 2008 the fruit at Mission was sitting at about 20 Brix, at least a couple of weeks away from being ready for harvest. Flavors are developing beautifully, however.
Paraiso Vineyard
This is the most southerly-located vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation from which we source fruit. Owned by Rich Smith, the vineyard site had provided outstanding quality fruit to us for many years...and the views are amazing. In the photo below, we are looking east from Paraiso's Wedding Hill, over the Salinas Valley all the way to the Chalone appellation in the Pinnacles on the east side of the Valley.
Located in the Santa Lucia range about 700 feet above sea level, the Martini and 667 clones have consistently produced wines that are highlighted by bright red cherry, cola, and orange oil notes. The 2006 release of this wine was made exclusively for members of Pinot Noir Program. Planted originally in 1973, the Paraiso block from which we get our fruit has been grafted over the course of time. Sometimes a vine or two is missed when they are top-worked. In the photo below notice the Pinot Noir and Gwerztraminer clusters sharing the same vine.
Sleepy Hollow Vineyard
Juxtaposed to Paraiso Vineyard in the south is the Sleepy Hollow Vineyard in the far northern reaches of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Owned by the Talbott family, this vineyard site produces one of the most distinctive Pinots we offer (think raspberry fruit folded into mushrooms, pine needles, and soy...mmmm! mmmm!).
The photo on the left shows Sleepy Hollow up against the foot of the almost vertical Santa Lucia, the center one shows the Clone 113 block marker (notice that it is planted on its own roots), and the one on the right shows the uppermost rows from which we harvest the Martini clone fruit that is the base for our multi-clone wine.
With weather remaining cool, it will be a few weeks yet before all of our Central Coast fruit is in to the winery. If the last part of the harvest goes as well as the early part, the quality of the fruit...and the wine...should be very high indeed.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tasting the New Sleepy Hollow Pinot Noir
The 2006 Pinot Noir - Sleepy Hollow Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands is a blend of three clones: Martini, 113, and 667 (two Dijon clones). This wine is a gorgeous expression of the earthier, non-fruit aromatics face of Pinot Noir. Made exclusively for members of the Pinot Noir Program at La Rochelle, it will be available to taste for a limited time on our Pinot Noir Flight. Only 130 cases were produced.
Click on the video below for more detailed tasting notes.
Click on the video below for more detailed tasting notes.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Tasting at La Rochelle
We invite you to join us for a pairing of gorgeous Pinot Noirs and spectacular cheeses. Click the play button below for more info:
Monday, September 8, 2008
New Friends at Spring Hill Vineyard
Finding Pinot Noir is extremely difficult these days given the popularity of the variety and the paucity of really high-class sites. I was lucky enough to get a lead on a wife and husband team growing beautiful Pinot Noir on Spring Hill Vineyard, 20 acres just 7 miles west of the Petaluma Gap in the Sonoma Coast appellation.
Karen and Chris London are pretty amazing (I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Chris yet, but did meet Karen). Not only are they farming their vineyard themselves, but they have young children and are raising cattle and vegetables for local restaurants to boot.
Hoping for a couple of tons of fruit in the 2009 harvest year, I called Karen to see if Tom Stutz and I could take a look at her vineyard on the way through to the La Cruz vineyard about 8 miles further East. Karen, who is very energetic and justifiably proud of her site, indicated that she might even have a couple tons of fruit from one of her blocks available THIS year.
After walking the site with her and making plans for getting picking bins to Sonoma, we left her with a couple bottles of La Rochelle. She, in turn, gave us a couple pounds of beef from Silver Bell, a cow from her Scottish Highland stock. That night...one of the best hamburgers I ever had. Harvest from this site should be in the third week of September. Look below to see the crazy-looking cows the London's raise.
Karen and Chris London are pretty amazing (I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Chris yet, but did meet Karen). Not only are they farming their vineyard themselves, but they have young children and are raising cattle and vegetables for local restaurants to boot.
Hoping for a couple of tons of fruit in the 2009 harvest year, I called Karen to see if Tom Stutz and I could take a look at her vineyard on the way through to the La Cruz vineyard about 8 miles further East. Karen, who is very energetic and justifiably proud of her site, indicated that she might even have a couple tons of fruit from one of her blocks available THIS year.
After walking the site with her and making plans for getting picking bins to Sonoma, we left her with a couple bottles of La Rochelle. She, in turn, gave us a couple pounds of beef from Silver Bell, a cow from her Scottish Highland stock. That night...one of the best hamburgers I ever had. Harvest from this site should be in the third week of September. Look below to see the crazy-looking cows the London's raise.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
2008 Harvest Begins!
Just when you think you have a little bit of breathing room after the annual Livermore Valley Harvest Festival, bam! the real harvest begins!
Yesterday, we harvested a bit shy of 6 tons of Pinot Noir from the La Cruz vineyard in the Sonoma Coast appellation. Last year was our first harvest from this beautiful site, and we were able to get about 4 tons of clone 115 Pinot Noir from two different blocks.
This year, we were able to secure not only the 115 which we like a lot, but also small volumes of 667 and 828. This is the first time we will be working with 828 and it came in beautifully at about 25 Brix. There's the fruit below at the Winery.
Our winemaker, Tom Stutz, and I went and visited La Cruz a few days before the harvest, and Petaluma, where the vineyard is located, was suffering similar heat as we were in Livermore. Early in the day it was not too hot and harvest was already underway for other wineries purchasing fruit from this site. Notice in the photo below the light brown dirt in the foreground. The soil in the upper block is thin, loamy-clay on top of volcanic rock. This block, called El Coro has much lighter soil than the block surrounding the Keller Estate winery located down the hill.
You can imagine that you'd see tractors and picking bins, and picking crews, and the like on a vineyard at this time of year. But you might not think that one of the most ubiquitous of tools, especially in vineyards where there are lots of birds is the crucial plastic spoon. Notice the pile at the foot of the row end post in the photo below. Netting is used to keep the birds from devouring fruit, and the nets are knitted together with plastic spoons.
As more fruit starts coming in, I will give you an update as to how quality is looking, and how the first blocks are tasting as they get through primary fermentation. This is one of the most exciting times of year, and if early indications are right, most of our fruit should be coming in a two to three week window this year. Busy! Busy! Busy!
Yesterday, we harvested a bit shy of 6 tons of Pinot Noir from the La Cruz vineyard in the Sonoma Coast appellation. Last year was our first harvest from this beautiful site, and we were able to get about 4 tons of clone 115 Pinot Noir from two different blocks.
This year, we were able to secure not only the 115 which we like a lot, but also small volumes of 667 and 828. This is the first time we will be working with 828 and it came in beautifully at about 25 Brix. There's the fruit below at the Winery.
Our winemaker, Tom Stutz, and I went and visited La Cruz a few days before the harvest, and Petaluma, where the vineyard is located, was suffering similar heat as we were in Livermore. Early in the day it was not too hot and harvest was already underway for other wineries purchasing fruit from this site. Notice in the photo below the light brown dirt in the foreground. The soil in the upper block is thin, loamy-clay on top of volcanic rock. This block, called El Coro has much lighter soil than the block surrounding the Keller Estate winery located down the hill.
You can imagine that you'd see tractors and picking bins, and picking crews, and the like on a vineyard at this time of year. But you might not think that one of the most ubiquitous of tools, especially in vineyards where there are lots of birds is the crucial plastic spoon. Notice the pile at the foot of the row end post in the photo below. Netting is used to keep the birds from devouring fruit, and the nets are knitted together with plastic spoons.
As more fruit starts coming in, I will give you an update as to how quality is looking, and how the first blocks are tasting as they get through primary fermentation. This is one of the most exciting times of year, and if early indications are right, most of our fruit should be coming in a two to three week window this year. Busy! Busy! Busy!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
It's Not About the Drinking Age
It's not really about a mandated age, or designated drivers or MADD or the disingenuous Please Drink Responsibly message at the end of beer and liquor commercials. It's much more fundamental than that.
It's really about teaching children what responsible drinking behavior looks and feels like. I am sure that there have been people injured or killed driving after drinking too much wine, but I would be willing to bet that the number is incredibly low compared to those killed after binging on hard alcohol. Wine is the perfect beverage with which to instill the idea of healthy moderation.
It stands to reason that a thoughtful introduction to children of wine, its affinity to food, and its role at the family table will result in more knowledge and understanding of wine's beauty, uses and effects. It also will go a long way to putting the drinking of alcohol into a context that is healthy, respectful, and effective.
Recently a group of College Presidents, called the Amethyst Group have questioned the reasonableness and efficacy of the current drinking age. They contend that prohibiting 18 and 19-year old college students from buying alcohol legally results in significantly more dangerous behavior than would ensue if the drinking age were lower. This group has its agenda...one that is of a piece with ameliorating the EFFECTS of alcohol abuse on campus and not necessarily with creating the right context for alcohol. And of course, the prohibitionists just want to proscribe behavior regardless of the reality of the rationale for their arguments (subscription required).
Tom Wark at the Fermentation blog has posted passionately about this issue. And I agree generally with his points; for me, however, it fundamentally comes down to this: when Americans can regard their daily glass of wine as a natural part of a moderate and healthy life, the drinking age question will have answered itself.
PS: Here are some other links of interest: A researcher at Indiana University has this take on the debate. A FoxNews writer opines.
It's really about teaching children what responsible drinking behavior looks and feels like. I am sure that there have been people injured or killed driving after drinking too much wine, but I would be willing to bet that the number is incredibly low compared to those killed after binging on hard alcohol. Wine is the perfect beverage with which to instill the idea of healthy moderation.
It stands to reason that a thoughtful introduction to children of wine, its affinity to food, and its role at the family table will result in more knowledge and understanding of wine's beauty, uses and effects. It also will go a long way to putting the drinking of alcohol into a context that is healthy, respectful, and effective.
Recently a group of College Presidents, called the Amethyst Group have questioned the reasonableness and efficacy of the current drinking age. They contend that prohibiting 18 and 19-year old college students from buying alcohol legally results in significantly more dangerous behavior than would ensue if the drinking age were lower. This group has its agenda...one that is of a piece with ameliorating the EFFECTS of alcohol abuse on campus and not necessarily with creating the right context for alcohol. And of course, the prohibitionists just want to proscribe behavior regardless of the reality of the rationale for their arguments (subscription required).
Tom Wark at the Fermentation blog has posted passionately about this issue. And I agree generally with his points; for me, however, it fundamentally comes down to this: when Americans can regard their daily glass of wine as a natural part of a moderate and healthy life, the drinking age question will have answered itself.
PS: Here are some other links of interest: A researcher at Indiana University has this take on the debate. A FoxNews writer opines.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tasting the 2006 Pinot Noir - Paraiso Vineyard
The 2006 Pinot Noir - Paraiso Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands has just been released exclusively to members of our Pinot Noir Program. A favorite of La Rochelle guests last year, this new vintage triumphantly carries on the where the 05 left off. Chock full of bright cherry fruit and elegance (hear more detail in our video tasting note below) this wine will be gone very soon.
To be one of the few who will enjoy this gorgeous wine, click here for more information about joining our club.
Click below to hear more.
To be one of the few who will enjoy this gorgeous wine, click here for more information about joining our club.
Click below to hear more.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Some Things I Like Right Now
In the last two weeks, I like:
- The Dark Knight. Visually stunning, great acting by Heath Ledger...a legitimately scary villain. Must be seen on the big screen.
- The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty by Julia Flynn Siler. Though some of her comments regarding the wine business, especially the marketing and sales aspects, betray her lack of understanding, the book is well researched and a cautionary tale for any family-owned business.
- Simply Fondue Restaurant in Livermore. Who knew that paying a restaurant to cook your own food could be so fun. Owners, Ivy and Alden Faught and their staff, have done a wonderful job filling out their wine list with an extensive selection of Livermore wines...and the Bananas Foster dessert fondue is ridiculous!
- Mera Vino Wine Boutique & Lounge in Livermore. This new, upscale wine shop/wine bar is elegant, with a growing collection of Livermore wines, and the small-plate style menu looks fabulous. Good luck Raj, Karaminder and Mary Lynn.
- Bollinger Champagne, gin martinis (hold the vermouth), everything from Manresa restaurant, the Livermore Hills in spring and summer, the Tasting Room staffs at Steven Kent and La Rochelle (the best in the valley...knowledgeable, fun, passionate about wine), and teaching my kid to drive.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
We are Innovatively Delicious!
A couple of weeks ago, La Rochelle Winery's 2006 Pinot Noir - Classic Clones, Arroyo Seco was paired with a Squash Blossom Tamale created by the talented folks at Campo di Bocce restaurant in Livermore...and came away with the most innovative pairing award at the annual Taste of Terroir.
(Photo of La Rochelle's Tracey Morretta and Steven Mirassou courtesy of Vanessa Pelletier)A blend of older clones from several Arroyo Seco vineyards, including the Mission Ranch, this new release is brimming with dark cherry, plum, and coffee notes. In the mouth, the wine is all silk and power...easily capable of aging 7-10 years.
The tamale, with its squash blossom shell, was stuffed with pinot noir-braised lamb, ricotta polenta, and fresh zucchini, brought out the wonderful fruit notes in the Pinot; the wine, in turn, highlighted the earthiness of the dish.
The Taste of Terroir is an annual event that brings together the talented vintners and restaurateurs of the Valley to give nearly 500 guests a hedonistic view of the progress of our ever-improving wine region.
And the wine's are improving dramatically: from Deer Ridge Winery's Moonstruck to Karl Wente's Nth Degree Merlot, our wines are showing more complexity, more classic structure, and even more value.
Not all the entries were equally successful, but if the pace of recent progress continues in Livermore, if more growers, producers, and consumers understand how capable were are of making world-class wines, it won't be long before the wine world as a whole embraces our appellation.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Creating Depth and Breadth
One of the most fun things about La Rochelle from a wine-making standpoint is the sheer number of different Pinots there are to make and drink. Pinot Noir is perhaps the best argument for the French notion of terroir, that hazily-understood notion that says that all aspects of the vineyard site (temperature, soil type, sun exposure, wind, rainfall, etc) have a significant and unduplicate-able effect on the final outcome of the wine. Each of our Pinots is a physical manifestation of the vineyard site, vineyard practice, winemaking philosophy, and vintage.
La Rochelle was founded on a passion for Pinot Noir and with a mission to show as many of the facets, beautiful and idiosyncratic, of this noble variety. Consequently, the search for great vineyard sites in as many of the great growing areas in California and Oregon as possible consumes a lot of our time. Currently, we have sourced fruit from nine different appellations:
We will never (at least I can't conceive of doing this) produce large lots of Pinot Noir. We want to continue to scour the landscape for great vineyard sites farmed by people as passionate about growing Pinot as we are in making it. This is the only way have to guarantee that our wines have the quality we expect of them.
La Rochelle was founded on a passion for Pinot Noir and with a mission to show as many of the facets, beautiful and idiosyncratic, of this noble variety. Consequently, the search for great vineyard sites in as many of the great growing areas in California and Oregon as possible consumes a lot of our time. Currently, we have sourced fruit from nine different appellations:
- Monterey
- Santa Lucia Highlands
- Arroyo Seco
- Santa Cruz Mountains
- Chalone
- Russian River Valley
- Sonoma Coast
- Anderson Valley
- Umpqua Valley of Oregon
We will never (at least I can't conceive of doing this) produce large lots of Pinot Noir. We want to continue to scour the landscape for great vineyard sites farmed by people as passionate about growing Pinot as we are in making it. This is the only way have to guarantee that our wines have the quality we expect of them.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
A Family Connection to Robert Mondavi
On May 16, 2008 Robert Mondavi passed away at the age of 94. Obviously, his contribution to the wine industry in America cannot be overestimated. I don't think it is overstating th
e case to say that, without his influence, we would not be talking about the Livermore Valley or Monterey County's potential to make world-class wines.
My family goes back a long way with Mondavi. In 1966, Robert served as a consultant to my father and the other 4 fifth-generation members of the family as they began to transition from selling bulk to premium wine. In fact, my father, whose passion for wine was passed on to me, remembers Mondavi bringing 1959 first-growth Bordeaux to a biweekly meeting to show these young guys (all in their mid-twenties) what wine could be like. My father's "religious experience" was one of the conversation points that ultimately led to the creation of the Steven Kent Winery in the Livermore Valley.
In Julia Flynn Siler's book The House of Mondavi, she recounts Mondavi's quest to build his own winery after he was kicked out of the family business. My grandfather and great-uncle co-signed a loan for $100,000 that amounted to half of the initial investment in the Robert Mondavi Winery. In retrospect it would have been nice if they had loaned money in exchange for part of the business, but, alas...
Robert Mondavi has served as a model for me, too. His emphasis on producing outstanding wine and understanding the role that wine plays in a full, family-oriented life, resonate with my own sense of the importance of what we do. While his mistaken belief that his name was enough to overcome the lack of quality in his wines from Lodi and the like, led to an unfortunately ignominious end, all the energy he put into leading in the creation of the modern California wine business cannot be calculated. He will forever be among the giants of our industry.
e case to say that, without his influence, we would not be talking about the Livermore Valley or Monterey County's potential to make world-class wines.My family goes back a long way with Mondavi. In 1966, Robert served as a consultant to my father and the other 4 fifth-generation members of the family as they began to transition from selling bulk to premium wine. In fact, my father, whose passion for wine was passed on to me, remembers Mondavi bringing 1959 first-growth Bordeaux to a biweekly meeting to show these young guys (all in their mid-twenties) what wine could be like. My father's "religious experience" was one of the conversation points that ultimately led to the creation of the Steven Kent Winery in the Livermore Valley.
In Julia Flynn Siler's book The House of Mondavi, she recounts Mondavi's quest to build his own winery after he was kicked out of the family business. My grandfather and great-uncle co-signed a loan for $100,000 that amounted to half of the initial investment in the Robert Mondavi Winery. In retrospect it would have been nice if they had loaned money in exchange for part of the business, but, alas...
Robert Mondavi has served as a model for me, too. His emphasis on producing outstanding wine and understanding the role that wine plays in a full, family-oriented life, resonate with my own sense of the importance of what we do. While his mistaken belief that his name was enough to overcome the lack of quality in his wines from Lodi and the like, led to an unfortunately ignominious end, all the energy he put into leading in the creation of the modern California wine business cannot be calculated. He will forever be among the giants of our industry.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Art & Commerce: Emotion & Money
I find myself linking to Steven Heimoff's stuff quite a lot. Steve, writer for Wine Enthusiast magazine is one of the best wine writers out there. Especially on his blog, he is not afraid to emotionally invest.
In his latest post, he reacts quite eloquently to the dynamic of critic being criticized for expressing a controversial viewpoint. He wasn't the critic in question...it was the art critic for the SF Chronicle who got enough negative mail from readers regarding his remarks about Dale Chihuly's work that he felt a need to explain himself.
If the world were perfect, we wouldn't need a mediator to tell or explain or reveal. We would (if we were so inclined) devote enough attention to something to come to some kind of rationa
l and humble conclusion of our own about the worth of a piece of blown glass or a Santa Lucia Pinot Noir, for example. It would become obvious to us that only our own reaction to a piece of art or to a product is valid, that we cannot ever "know" what the artist or craftsman was trying to accomplish, but that his work was a gift given to us...and we are to say to it, either yes or no.
We know that we could never have made that thing, and that the artist's conception of it is different than ours and only the artist's. Our conception is only truly meaningful to ourselves given that we all experience the world differently.
The hardest thing though, sometimes, is to acknowledge our own lack of experience with something and to be careful how loudly we trumpet our opinion. It isn't a perfect world, and wine critics serve a useful purpose for those who aren't yet ready to make their wine buying decisions completely on their own. It is important to remember, however, that the critic is paid to form an opinion; he does not speak for us...he speaks only for himself; and his opinion, in the end, can only be valid for him.
In his latest post, he reacts quite eloquently to the dynamic of critic being criticized for expressing a controversial viewpoint. He wasn't the critic in question...it was the art critic for the SF Chronicle who got enough negative mail from readers regarding his remarks about Dale Chihuly's work that he felt a need to explain himself.
If the world were perfect, we wouldn't need a mediator to tell or explain or reveal. We would (if we were so inclined) devote enough attention to something to come to some kind of rationa
l and humble conclusion of our own about the worth of a piece of blown glass or a Santa Lucia Pinot Noir, for example. It would become obvious to us that only our own reaction to a piece of art or to a product is valid, that we cannot ever "know" what the artist or craftsman was trying to accomplish, but that his work was a gift given to us...and we are to say to it, either yes or no.We know that we could never have made that thing, and that the artist's conception of it is different than ours and only the artist's. Our conception is only truly meaningful to ourselves given that we all experience the world differently.
The hardest thing though, sometimes, is to acknowledge our own lack of experience with something and to be careful how loudly we trumpet our opinion. It isn't a perfect world, and wine critics serve a useful purpose for those who aren't yet ready to make their wine buying decisions completely on their own. It is important to remember, however, that the critic is paid to form an opinion; he does not speak for us...he speaks only for himself; and his opinion, in the end, can only be valid for him.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Special Occasions
Today in the La Rochelle Tasting Room, two of our guests celebrated their birthdays with us. While these kinds of celebrations happen more frequently in our tasting room than they use to, I never stop being humbled and honored by them.
A winery tasting room is like a Jiffy Lube for relationships. We don't sell wine; we help to grease the gears of memory production; of getting close to your friends and family. With so much competition for one's urgent but not important time, finding even a moment for what is important is difficult enough. And even when that small slice is found for re-creation, there are things to do, un-numberable.
Thank you for choosing us...and Happy Birthday!
A winery tasting room is like a Jiffy Lube for relationships. We don't sell wine; we help to grease the gears of memory production; of getting close to your friends and family. With so much competition for one's urgent but not important time, finding even a moment for what is important is difficult enough. And even when that small slice is found for re-creation, there are things to do, un-numberable.
Thank you for choosing us...and Happy Birthday!
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