Archive for the ‘Culture and Wine’ Category
Last week Jim Barrett, the founder of Chateau Montelena, one of Napa Valley’s and California’s most iconic and important wineries, died. Jim’s son, Bo, offered the following observation on his father’s death: “My dad died of a life well-lived.” I suppose there are other, more sentimental, more earnest things that could be said about a recently departed soul. One might mention their contribution to their community, their rock solid friendship, their family ties. One could acknowledge their accomplishments. But this…
Culture. It is a combination of many things including facts, fictions, legends and landscapes. Take my own Napa Valley. Valley culture is built on the facts of great wealth being produced here by old hands and newcomers to the winemaking industry that is largely sustained by a foundation of working poor Mexicans. The fiction that anyone can enter and be a part of this good and expensive life simply by moving to this region is a part of the Valley’s…
What would be the impact on wine lovers if the inebriation qualities of wine were eliminated, while the alcohol remained in the drink? Put another way, what if the amount of wine you drank no longer determine how drunk you got? This is the tantalizing and fascinating question that arises from a news report that a pill is being developed that, upon being taken, would instantly sober up a person who has been drinking. Due to the fact that wine…
I’m fully aware of the need of scientists and researchers to confirm what appears obvious to most people. We do it to give objective confirmation to our well honed intuition and to understand the degree to which observable phenomena are being observed correctly. Still, I always get a bit of feeling of “I Told You So” when I see a result of a study that teaches us what I already know. I’m talking about the claim that I and many…
Where is the iconic center of the American wine world? What place would serve as the site of pilgrims who sought to worship at the center of American wine culture? Where is building or plot of land where devoted wine lovers, upon occupying that space would be moved to bow their heads, look around, take a deep breath and commit the memory or “where and when” to memory? I’m at a loss to identify that place that occupies the central…
