Why I love what I do...

I became spurred recently to try to defend what I do for a living and explain why I am not on a plane to protect women’s rights around the globe. This journey in defense, has helped me to define why it is that I (as a wine shop owner & wine rep) have surrounded myself with wine and made a living doing so…beyond the fact that it can taste so good. Yes, wine has transported me to the land where it came from, and to a conversation I once had and to the person I once shared the bottle with. It has reminded me of the grapegrower and the winemaker I had met…and made me recall the cellar and the tasting room where I first tasted it. Wine has worked its way into my heart and into my life. It has been an ongoing education, a romance of sorts. Wine has connected me with inspiring/passionate people...and has been a grounding link to my community.

Not long after I started to drink wine, it instilled in me a search for a wine well made, but more than that, a wine with a story…one that I could share with friends…one that made my experience unique. My first job in the wine industry was for a small distributor that represented boutique producers of small production wines. It was a fledgling company and they were eager to educate their sales reps. I was given Adventures on the Wine Route by Kermit Lynch. I would be representing /selling his portfolio...and, I was told, this was the best way to learn about what I'd have in my bag....and adeptpty explain to buyers why these wines were worthy of their consideration. This was not KJ (that sold itself). I had to know the grapes, the regions, the winemakers, their techniques....and their raison d'etre. Within the first year of my new job…they took all of us to Napa, Sonoma, Los Gatos and Santa Cruz to meet the winemakers and see the wineries that we represented in Colorado.

On the trip, I was introduced to John & Tracey Skupney, owners of Lang & Reed Winery. Their house was just a few blocks from the quaint, northern Napa town of St. Helena. Their two gazelle-like Salukis…bounded in and out of their open California ranch style home and lush backyard. The Skupneys could not have been nicer, more relaxed and more normal. They had named their winery after their two young sons. As they relaxed in their home they seemed to glow with pride. They spoke about their children, their wine and the life they had built. They fell in love with Cabernet Franc in a village in the Loire Valley of France where they had made lifelong friends with a winemaking family in Chinon. To me, the Skupneys seemed to be quintessential down-to-earth winemakers. Their passion for Cabernet Franc made them more “workhorse” than “showboat” to me somehow. They had a fondness for  a grape and a village and friends in France...which inspired them to make Cabernet Franc based wines in California. They were an anomaly in the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir centric United States. To me, they were a romantics with passion and faith. They made me fall in love with Cabernet Franc too.

John Komes, a big bear of a guy, greeted us at Flora Spring, his family’s winery. He commanded everyone’s attention with is loud jovial voice…and his squinted eyes twinkled. John instantly charmed our group. He pied-pipered us around their impressivly beautiful winery and introduced us to his sister, Julie Garvey. When John spoke about his sister I could feel the respect he had for her. It was genuine and heartwarming. We went out into the vineyards with Julie’s husband, Tom (vineyard director at Flora Springs). It was clear by the business-like way Tom took us out the vineyards that this was his domain. He was a diligent farmer who knew his land and seemed well-versed in viticulture. He discussed trellising and vine spacing and seemed very in-tune. Flora Springs, to me, was run with enthusiasm, respect and familial love.

The next day, in Sonoma, we drove in our rented mini-van up a hidden, tight, dirt road. Trees scraped the side of the van as we squeezed thru the tiny corridor of the heavily forested, lower part of Sonoma Valley and climbed up and out of the woods into the view of a vineyard at the top. We arrived at Laurel Glen. The vineyard sat up overlooking the valley below and you would never know it was there. (I am sure I could never find it again, unless I had an appointment and specific instructions on how to get up to the gorgeous vineyard on Sonoma Mountain.) Patrick Campbell, appeared on metal crutches and was noticeably disabled from childhood Polio, yet he beamed with pride as his stood in his vineyard. He spoke with conviction and intelligence and made no mention of his disability. He deeply cared about his vineyard and his passion for winemaking was apparent. Patrick Campbell defined himself. He shook his head as he looked over to his neighbor’s unkempt vineyard and talked about how he thought his neighbor was mismanaging his land. He thought his neighbor was making poor choices by not paying attention. "Just look at his vineyard,” he commanded. The way the vine rows were set up didn’t help their exposure on the mountain....it was an unfortunate waste of land, he opined. When we walked into the winery I noticed empty egg cartons and he explained that egg whites were used in the fining process…to take out tiny unwanted particles from his wine. To me, Patrick Campbell's message was clear; make the most of what you have, pay attention, make intelligent decisions, work hard and take pride in what you do.  We tasted his rich, layered and lovely Cabernet, thanked him for our visit and headed back down the hill through the forest. 

We arrived at Marimar Torres’ house and winery for dinner. She was petite, friendly and charming…and full of energy. Marimar had beautiful olive skin and thick, black, curly hair. She spun us around the winery, pointed to the vineyards and then ushered us next door to her house. She made dinner al fresco…cooking while we enjoyed the beautiful evening sipping her chardonnays and pinot noirs. I scanned the glorious, panoramic view from her modern home that fit snugly into the hillside. We dined extravagantly at her large, outdoor farmtable under the porch roof with unobstructed views of the vineyards surrounding us. She laughed when she told us about the silverware (with Lufthansa & Swiss Air emblems). Each knife, fork and spoon at our table settings was taken, she confessed, from firstclass flights to Europe (presumably from trips back to Spain to visit her brother and father and her famous, Spanish, winemaking family). Here was her winery in the Green River Valley, a sub-appellation of the Russian River Valley and a small microclimate with no neighbors in view. She spoke pridefully of her a daughter. I was awed by Marimar…a single woman raising her own daughter, making wine far from her family’s roots. She had created a life for herself a in a land all her own….and she fed her guests with silverware stolen off airplanes! Marimar was wild and cool…and a fabulous cook. She pulled off a spontaneous, easygoing and delicious dinner for all 10 of us. As we drank her Don Miguel Pinot Noir (named after her father), I cherished the evening. The sun had set and the warm breeze seemed to gently hug my skin.

Two deer darted in front of our van the next morning as we drove up the steep road of the Mayacamas Mountains through the fog to Adler Fels Winery. We were high above the valley floor of Sonoma. A crazy, Tudor style castle, in various states of re-construction, loomed before us on a cliff. David Coleman, owner of Adler Fels (a tall, thin man), came towards the van as we arrived. The scene seemed straight out of a Scooby Doo Mystery. It was comic and bizarrely surreal. We entered the castle and gazed out the huge windows of living room. The fog blurred the view. Somewhere beneath the thick fog was The Valley of the Moon. Several of us took turns hitting golf balls off a makeshift plank that David Coleman had wryly constructed on a ledge adjacent to the castle. Valley of the Moon, would have golf balls from Adler Fels to reckon with…not hail. I could picture the land owners below...befuddled, even struck, by the balls. It was random humor for sure, but still fun to hit golf balls off into the unknown. Across from the castle was the winery and labeling room. I knew Adler Fels made Gewurztraminer and a couple other varietals, but I was surprised by the vision before me. Dozens of different labels lined the shelves on the wall…like the sticker shops of my youth. Leaping Lizard, and several other labels with gimmicky names (Coyote Creek, etc) were waiting to be put on bottles and shipped to specific markets...including California, Colorado and beyond. This was a wacky, wine branding, factory with creative business intentions.

Paul Hobbs met us at Kunde, where he was making his wines. Kunde was established and conservative and seemed like the total antithesis of Adler Fels. It almost felt like we were back to reality. Paul was youthful and classically good looking with dark curly hair and an athletic glow. I was assigned to take pictures…and not one came out. I was totally smitten with this winemaker…who, sadly enough, was married to an Argentine woman and had a young daughter. Though he didn’t own a winery, he had vineyard contracts with some of the best plots in Napa and Sonoma and he was making wines in Argentina too. He was obviously well-connected and well financed. The wines we tasted were outstanding, flavorful representations of California’s heralded vineyards.

We cruised two hours south and passed a Ferrari shop as we arrived in Los Gatos. Testarossa Winery, owned by Rob and Diana Jensen, sat up on the hill just above the high end restaurants and shops of town. The winery was a gorgeous sight…it was state of the art winery and sat in front of the renovated original that had been built in the late 1800s! They had a gifted winemaker and made elegant wines from small plots and single vineyards throughout the central coast of California. Rob was a former collegiate bike racer who was known as “Testarossa”, or “Red-head” during his time spent in Italy. Ferarris, a passion for cycling, silky, artful Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sourced from top vineyards, a prestine winery in a glamorous town...how  could you not be charmed? 

Our last stop of the trip was at Bonny Doon Winery, just north of Santa Cruz. We drove straight up steep Icecream Grade into the tropical rainforested woods to the hobbit-like winery. Randall Grahm  part philosopher, winemaker and mad scientist and one of the original Rhone Rangers/owner of Bonny Doon, greeted us with wild hair and mismatched clothes. I had previously read the newsletters Randall had written.  They were sent out to Doon-ians (his followers and fans of his wines).  Therefore, I was familiar with his intriguing pontifications about his wines and winemaking ideals. He used French, philosophy...even invented words, to capture his profound and passionate ideas. These newsletters were works of art in themselves. One of my brothers, a Latin major and Art minor at Dartmouth, seemed to have a similar inventive and creative mind….and I was reminded of him when we met Randall. I felt an instant familiarity…like I could understand Randall…or at least it felt like I could appreciated him more, because of my brother. I also loved Santa Cruz, a surfing seaside town with a crazy roller-coaster and a very liberal UC college on the hill. I had spent a summer there recently, studying Russian History and Creative Writing. The aforementioned, combined with the whimsical, artistic labels, pastiche-ly named wines, well-made Rhone varietals and blends...and domestic resurrection of esoteric European varietals, drew me in to the wines of Bonny Doon.

This trip was my introduction to California Wine Country and its storied winemakers. They were colorful and passionate…they were the Canterbury Tales of my initiation into the wine world. Learning about these small wineries became the launch-pad for my continuing quest for small production wines with a story. The winemaker’s personality, the place where wine comes from… the history of the land and the winemaking traditions or modern techniques, are all a big part of what makes wine so interesting to me.

This winter, my love of wine inspired me to get on a plane to go see the vineyards of the Cote d’Or. It seemed like the mecca to me, and I needed to go. Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac endeared me with his cherubic face and his young family. I was impressed with how he spoke with his father and how he seemed to gracefully direct Dujac into the modern era, while maintaining the traditions of his father’s revered winery. What pressure that must be! Didier Chevillion, winemaker at Dupont Tisserandot, was a former chef and rugby player and by marriage was brought into the domaine. They were gorgeous, nuanced wines, layered with spices, earth, and delicate berries. Being a former chef had seemingly helped him in defining his style as a winemaker. I toured Domaine Faiveley…now one of the largest land owners and old guard of Negociant Burgundy. Patrick LeFlaive chauffeured me, in his speedy and sporty, black sedan, around the vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. He stopped several times so I could take pictures and touch the dirt of the renowned Le Montrachet vineyard. The trip culminated with my old friend Dee introducing me to her husband, Alex Gambal. Last year Alex (an American expat who owns his own domaine), became the first non-Frenchman to purchase land in Batard-Montrachet! We tasted through his wines in tank and talked about the challenges of the recent vintage and various techniques he was incorporating into his winemaking regime. We discussed the benefits and risks of whole cluster fermentation. He handed me two bottles to pack in my luggage. Sitting on a beach, I revelled, is no comparison to this!

A few weeks ago at my shop, with my trip to Burgundy still fresh in my mind, Andrew Murray stopped by. He wanted to taste me on his wines…Rhone varietals from Santa Barbara. I was familiar with his wines, I had read about him and had previously carried them in the shop. We chatted like old friends, about great Rhone producers like Cuilleron, Chave and Vins de Vienne. We had a common background…the love of wine and passionate, small production winemakers. He told me a story...of how he fell in love with wine.  It was on a trip through Europe with his family when he was in his teens.  They were in Burgundy and had found the wines to be too light.  At the famous Michelin 3 star restaurant L'Esperance (in the heart of Burgundy), they asked the waiter to recommend a wine that might have more flavor. He recommended a Rhone blend.  Andrew  was impressed with what he tasted. As he finished his story he poured me a a taste of his wine named "Esperance."  It was blend of Rhone varietals made in his hometown of Santa Barbara, California. The wine was rich, and full bodied and wonderful.

I am always on the search for a unique wine with a story. Is the winemaker pushing the envelope, showcasing his/her ideals, or protecting a long held tradition? The epic bottle (and the acquisition or dream of such) for me, is the handcrafted, articulation of this. Sometimes it can be more general…like a legendary vintage. When the 2000 vintage of Bordeaux was released, I went to luncheon where these wines were being poured. Even though I had been a vegetarian for 15 years or more, the lore of this vaunted vintage compelled to eat lamb! Wine has inspired me to be a more creative and enthusiastic cook. I have made delicious meals created especially for a specific bottle. I have spent all day at the stove making Coq au Vin for a Domaine de Montille Nuits Saint Georges Aux Thorey 2005, and a rosemaried Boeuf Bourguignon to go with a Chave St. Joseph 2007. I have made an earthy mushroom risotto with perfectly poached and lightly herbed salmon for a bottle of Chorey les Beaune 2009 from Alex Gambal. My husband and I have savored these wines and enjoyed these meals at our dinner table…and experienced gastronomic bliss. I have surprised us both with my entertaining skills. I am propelled to experience more and share them with family and friends.

I have found, that there is so much that goes into making a distinctive bottle of wine…clonal selection, vineyard location, soil, microclimate, vintage variation, and then there is cork choice, label design and keeping your vineyards resistant to pests. Not to mention luck and skill. Is the winery organic /sustainable/biodynamique? Again, is the winery or winemaker pushing the boundaries of preconceived ideals…or resurrecting the traditions of old? What makes this wine unique? What is the story of this wine? There is always something new to learn in the dynamic world of wine. It is intellectual, debatable and it has kept me up at night researching…eager to learn something new…something I was curious about (a grape, technique, region or winemaker I’d never heard of… or a new trend or controversy). Every time I learn something new I feel better prepared to discover, discuss and understand even more. It is continual. If I have met the winemaker, sipped the wines from barrel at the winery, walked through the vineyards, and have experienced the personalities, and the backgrounds and the philosophies behind the winemaking…the wine is more profound to me. As I travel and taste and search for new wines, my passion deepens and grows.

Beyond that, I have learned about business along the way. These winemakers, and others in the wine industry, have taught me to work hard, be savvy, aware and creative, and deliver a quality product. They have shown me what following your passion, and confidence in what you do,  can achieve.  I built my wine shop as a place to come for your nightly bottle, much like a bakery for your daily loaf of bread. As I help a customer (a regular or someone new) find a bottle…we discuss what they are hoping to find (a grape varietal, specific style, something for a nuanced dish or something for a special occasion) we also discuss what is going on their life (where they are from, what they have done that day, what happened at work, the fires nearby, the lack of snow, the epic day on the mountain, the race they just won, the recent surgery they had, their new job, the guy they might marry, their daughter who just had a baby, the crutches they need after surgery that we are happy to lend them). While I search for wines with a story (a great winemaker, a great vintage, or a wine from a grape or a place they have never tried) often the greatest stories come from my customers. Because we serve wines by the glass too…you can sit down with an old friend… share a moment with some wine and cheese at a slowed down pace.

So for me, wine is about community too and creating a space to talk and share thru the milieu of wine. I may not be flying off to Afghanistan or on the front page of the paper…but I feel like I am bring something bright to my community. I have followed my passion and I try to share it with others. I started my own business (as a female at the age of 30) and I hope that this might show young boys and girls that they can do it too. One of my goals is to arm my customers with an interesting bottle of wine…so they can bring it to their table and start a conversation about the wine that ends up being about something greater.