“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” | Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Where are you now?

Where are you now?

Do you ever think of me

In the quiet, in the crowd?"
                                             ~Mumford & Sons 

 

 

 

 



A Wine to Drink While Watching Somm…

 

 

 

Somm (a documentary about four sommeliers gearing up and attempting to pass the rigorous Court of Master Sommeliers' Master Sommelier Exam) has just come out on Netflix. Which, fortuitously, has enabled me to watch it for the first time, after much anticipation, at home and with a bottle of wine. A few nights ago, I seized the opportunity…cued up the movie and opened a bottle of Lompoc Wine Company’s 2012 Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir. I chose it because it seemed like the perfect wine to drink after, even during, the movie. Raj Parr who made the wine (with Sashi Moorman) has a few cameo appearances throughout the movie.  He is considered one of the great sommeliers and has written a book entitled Secrets of the Sommeliers…which I have by my bedside and refer to from time to time.  

I was reminded, as I looked at, swirled, smelled and tasted the wine in the glass, of a trip a few years ago when I went to San Francisco for the Fancy Food Show and the first time I met Raj Parr. My friend and I explored the city and then wound up at his wine bar, RN74. It was recommended by another friend who works for the same small wine distributor in Colorado that I do. “If you are going to San Fran, you have to go to RN74,” she insisted.  “We sell Raj’s wines,” she cajoled. “Go see him. I bet he’ll be there. He’s great. I’m sure he’d be happy to meet you. And the wine bar is super cool!” 

We sat at the small, double-sided bar staring at a gorgeous state of the art Wine Preservation System…The Enomatic. (The Enomatic is from Tuscany, Italy...and it is expensive. Once a wine is placed on one of its pedestals...it is lifted up and and pressurized...and then argon gas flows through the system to cover the wine, keeping it from becoming oxidized, keeping it fresh and tasting as it should.  Enomatic advertises that wines can be kept in the machine for up to three weeks before they begin to fade. It also measures, pours and aerates the wine with the push of a button.) I was in awe of The Enomatic. It set RN74 apart...set the mood and made me fully aware that this was a place for serious wine consumption. 

Then, we were presented a with wine list that blew my mind. Are you kidding me…Romanee-Conte by the glass? (The Enomatic makes this possible.) We contemplated it…but I rationalized that if we got a 3 oz $60 pour, my friend would probably take the bigger sip and I would be left with nothing but the dregs and a deflated wallet. So I went for the 6oz Domaine de Montille 1er Cru Saint Aubin (another insane Burgundy producer). Domaine de la Romanee-Conte, Domaine de Montille...these are wines you rarely see on wine lists let alone by the glass. I was jumping out of my skin to communicate this to my friend. ”This is crazy!” I proclaimed: “To be able to have these wines by the glass is amazing...unbelievable! Carpe Vino!”

She chose the same wine and we agreed that the wine was stunning: silky smooth, with fabulous acidity and fruit…and graceful on its toes.  It was as balanced, perfectly chilled and elegant a wine as I had hoped for. I can’t speak for my friend, but by the way she stared at her glass, swirled and sipped slowly, I ascertained that she felt as rewarded as I did with our wine drinking decisions.

As we sat at the bar, I looked around, marveling at the San Francisco evening and our crazy cool wine bar. The restaurant was buzzing and full. An eye-catching, ambiance-making, train station-like sign (hung up on a high wall) revolved and featured extraordinary wines with limited bottles left. Sometimes a sense of place is just appreciating where you are…enjoying the moment, the outstanding glass of wine, the dapperly dressed sommeliers and waiters in their element, gliding across the floor with ultra-focused purpose…the bustling big city restaurant scene that surrounds you. And that was exactly what I was doing, relishing the moment, when Raj Parr came and sat next to us.  

He is kind of a jolly looking guy with an endearing smile and a twinkle in his eye when he is talking about wine. And he brought to fruition this amazing wine bar. We chatted for a bit…about his wine projects (at that point he was not yet making wines in Burgundy).  I asked him about that…why he wasn’t...after all RN74 is the auto route that runs north/south through the villages of Burgundy! It seemed clear to me that was where his heart was. I had read about/ tasted his wines…and there was a discernible homage to Burgundy in them. For starters …he made pinot noir and chardonnay from cooler climates… and it seemed he was striving for wines with higher acid, lower alcohol, more integrated (less in-your-face) oak than the average California producer. He said something like “nah…not going to do that.”  But I knew he had something under his sleeve.  Not surprisingly, he is now producing wines in Burgundy… a negociant label, Maison L’Oree, made possible by Charles Banks.

Anyway…that is my backstory on the Lompoc Wine Company Sta Rita Hills 2012 Pinot Noir that I chose to drink while watching Somm. For me, there is always a story with a bottle of wine. This wine was made by a gifted sommelier who has become a a talented/passionate winemaker. Fairly deep garnet and unfiltered, it tasted of cranberries rather than the more typical cherries or strawberries I was anticipating…but with an amiable tartness. It was, true to form, artfully made…definitive with its brightness and lively fruit and fantastic with my Silverbrite salmon, veggies and couscous. For sure...it is a Raj Parr wine and it was a perfect choice.