Wine and music! The parallels are as numerous as the descriptions of a Grand Cru Burgundy or the riffs in “Stairway to Heaven”. Both are works of art in their own right where the progression and interplay of nuances results in something truly magical. Both are mediums where the sum is greater than its individual parts, where the end product is the culmination of an artistic process. In either case, the artists often go through a cascade of emotions creating this labor of love to eventually arrive at the finish with a masterpiece. Sometimes not.
With a piece of music it may be a melody, the words, or the “riff” that grabs you. With a wine it may be the flavors, complexity, or elegance that does the same. In either case, both add pleasure to our lives and provide us with a platform for unforgettable memories.
I grew up with music and wine my entire life. My parents sang and danced to the folk music from the “old country”. I grew up during the heyday of the 60s and 70s starting with the “British Invasion”, the Beatles and the Stones. Then came Jimi Hendrix and Janis, Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Doors…the list is endless (I still have my LPs, remember those?). And I remember making wine in a bathtub with my dad when I was just 7 years old.
My “Ah Ha” wine moment came during a dinner during my college days at UCSB. My roommate’s parents ordered a bottle of Vouvray from the Loire Valley. After being quite pleased with myself for pronouncing it correctly, I simply fell in love with the wine. Maybe it was how well the wine paired with the food. Maybe it was the company. Maybe it was the lively conversation. Probably a combination of all of these elements and the entire evening, but the lights went on.
I have been in the business of marketing fine wine since the early 1990s. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know many great winemakers, growers and winery owners, not to mention Master Sommeliers, chefs and restaurateurs. I’ve had the chance to taste epic wines (and some not so epic), and meet very interesting people from the icons in the wine industry to casual wine fans. I’ve enjoyed working with serious collectors and those just getting started on this exciting adventure.
One of my passions is to find the new discoveries, the tiny producers who are making outstanding wines, but have yet to be discovered. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the icons when they were just getting started with their own brands like Paul Hobbs, DuMOL, Papapietro Perry, Kosta Browne, Gus Gamba, Paul Sloan at Small Vines, and many others.
Today a new generation of cutting edge winemakers and viticulturalists are paving the path of future wines that wine-loving fans all over the world will fall in love with and remember for many years. People like Duncan Meyer and Nathan Roberts at Arnot-Roberts, James MacPhail, Andy Erickson the winemaker now at Screaming Eagle and Dalla Valle, Annie Favia, Jeff Pisoni, Ehren Jordan, Thomas Brown, and the list goes on and on.
Although this blog is primarily about wine, I can’t deny that music has played an integral part in my life. The similarities between the two mediums are too many to ignore. And it’s the little intricacies, the nuances and attention to details that distinguish the final outcome that makes a wine sing, or a piece of music a classic. So who knows when references will crop up about music and it’s relationship to wine, but they will.
Hence, the name…The Wine Riff!
I hope you join us on our journey in discovering the new upcoming wine industry movers and shakers, and delve into the stories behind the scene, exploring what makes the wines you enjoy remarkable and memorable.
Cheers,
George Bato
