The Mystics Aren’t the Winemakers


The problem as I see it is that we all dream of this. The lush vines sagging under the weight of their fruit, the intimate backyard tastings, the rocky earth, the turquoise sky above a mountain, wind chimes barely making their music, the coolness of the winery, the large-bowled stemware filled to just over 1/3, the smell of the burnt French oak barrels and dusty under-ground caves. And some of us, of stalwart farmer stock, may actually do it. I know many locally and beyond that are living the dream. But for the rest of us mere mortals, there is this.

Guy Lelarge, owner of local Valencia Wine Company, didn’t steal someones idea over 10 years ago when he opened his wine tasting bar, though many jokingly have told him he did. Juan Alonso, owner of the grounds pictured above and adjacent to his locally famous restaurant Le Chene, may have stolen his ideas but only from his childhood in Spain and France.

But the rest of us, mere mortals once again, don’t have it in us.

Is this a flaw? The reason we become so passionate about drinking (or writing) about wine is because the mystique and romance holds us? We don’t have to comply with the everyday whims of Mother Nature or pesky liquor laws.

But, we continue, to covet thy neighbor’s field. I tend to believe it’s something more than mere desire. In coveting the winemaker we pay tribute to his work. Work that we aren’t willing to do ourselves. In coveting the wine store owner; again, we are coveting his willingness to kowtow to a retail market.

In coveting the wine, and all that it takes to get it to our waiting lips, we pay tribute to all of those that allow us, by doing the hard work, the mysticism required to find something new in every swallow of every bottle of every time.

Yours, in wine and out,
Eve

9 thoughts on “The Mystics Aren’t the Winemakers

  1. Eve! I have only recently started following your blog, but I have to say – good on. I think we all have that wistful feeling when visiting a winery, or even drinking their wine. . . I was just thinking – you might be interested in a new project launched by the AmericanWinery collective – check out winecliQ.com or email me Lindi@winecliQ.com for more details!

  2. Eve,

    This is a really nice article.

    I’ve often tried to figure out how I could be more a part of the business. Funny thing — much as I love wine, making wine isn’t one of my dreams. But, having some connection to the industry is.

    Michael Perlis

  3. Michael P: Let me know when you’re ready to publish a wine periodical online – that will get you into the industry. Editors/publishers get page 3 to write anything they want. Or is that a dream only I have?

    Yours, in wine and out,
    Eve

  4. When you say a "wine periodical online" do you mean your blog, or something beyond that?

    Michael P.

  5. Michael,

    Yes, I want you to publish the SCV Wine Magazine, on paper and online. Let me write in it and you can write the editor's column.

    One can dream…

  6. So long as it doesn’t cost me anything! Ha, ha!

    I have a vague recollection of a wine-oriented magazine being published in the SCV several years ago. Do you recall this, or am I dreaming it up? It failed, but things have since become much more wine-friendly in town.

    Sometimes, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

    Michael P.

  7. If we had a wine mag, Michael, it must have come and gone so fast it was off my radar…unless another reader chimes in?

    I got the will…

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