I'm a big fan of early punk rock. I especially love the big three of the late '70s, maybe you could call them the holy (or unholy) trinity of punk: The Clash, The Ramones, and The Sex Pistols. It shouldn't come as a surprise, at least in retrospect, that punk rock and the whole "punk movement" came about when it did. Music-wise, the late '70s were all about excess and glitz: disco and monumental arena rock productions permeated pop culture. Socially speaking, though, especially in the birthplace(s) of punk: London and New York, many lived a harsh reality, far removed from the Studio 54 lifestyle. The Joe Strummer documentary that came out a couple of years ago, "The Future is Unwritten", shows that punk came out of the harsh realities of poor, angry kids. It spoke to the disenfranchised, those who were squatters in abandoned buildings, those who were at the opposite end of royalty and excess. Punk rock was a raw statement of raw reality. It was taking rock and roll back to it's basic roots. You didn't really have to know how to play very well. It wasn't about talent (although there were a lot of talented punks), necessarily. Anyone could do it. Learn a couple of chords, put on a sneer, and play like your life depends on it.
That's a perhaps simplified version of it all, and at this point, you very well may be wondering what if anything this has to do with wine. Glad you asked. Wine has been a symbol of the elite for years upon years. One thinks of high brow culture and lavish dinner parties, where the rich swirl their glasses and banter about country club gossip and whether their servant staff is stealing from them or not.
And as I've mentioned before, certain bottles of wine, especially from a certain French region called Bordeaux, are priced well out of the range of not only the average consumer, but also of the consumer who regularly is willing to pay a good chunk of money for wine. We're talking thousands of dollars. For fermented grape juice!
But the reality of wine is this: It's primarily a product of agriculture. Of people who carefully tend to the land and the vines. This is what it is, first and foremost. My grandfather was a farmer, not of grape fields, but rather corn fields, but still, it's the same idea. It's a hard life of working in the sun and in the dirt. I worked a couple of times, detasselling corn, and can tell you, it's not glamorous working in a field on a hot summer day. I still have memories of dew soaked work gloves and finding pieces of the corn plant embedded in my hands. I don't know how my grandpa did it for so many years. I think it's just in some people. He grew up on that land, so I'm sure he felt a deep connection to it.
It's this careful tending and understanding of the land that is the basis for all good wine. Sure there's more to it. I don't want to minimize the art and craft of the winemaker his/herself, but without the dirt and the sun, there's no grape. Without the grape, there's no wine. Wine is literally the fruit of the workingman/woman's labor. From this point of view, it is almost comical that bottles are treated like solemn museum pieces in fine dining establishments and rich people's private cellars. This is the juice of calloused hands and sun baked skin. And here's your connection. The punks were raw and straight to the point. And it just doesn't get any more raw and straight to the point than dirt and sun. So the message here is this: You don't have to be a sommelier or a wine nerd to get it and appreciate it. Put on a good ol' fashioned Johnny Rotton sneer, drink it, and enjoy it whether you can detect anything beyond a wine smell/taste or not! Really, in some cases, less is more. Buddhism has a concept known as "Begninner's Mind", where the goal is to approach every experience with a fresh, untainted outlook every time. Tasting and enjoying wine is about sensory experience. Too much intellectualizing clouds what it's all about!
And the reality of wine is nowhere more present than places like Napa itself. While yes, there are plenty of Michelin starred restaurants with incredible lists to go around, there are also plenty of pickup trucks, barns and fields--things not unlike the rural surroundings I grew up around. And there are plenty of down-to-earth people who merely want to share their love of it all with you, rather than intimidate and judge you.
Really, the way I see it is like this: You have a choice. You can be in awe of the critics and the old guard of wine who would rather you bow down in hushed reverence to them and their snobbish world that you will never truly ever be accepted in. Or you could see it for what it is...a great drink made with the care and love of people whose hands got really, really dirty.
The encouraging thing is that I may be late to the party. Do a simple Google search on "Wine Punk", "Wine Rebel", and even "Wine Populist" and you get some really interesting information on people who seem to truly want to be a part of a wine revolution, where wine is celebrated and enjoyed by us all rather than a select few. I hope to bring you more information on these people in future posts.
So go ahead. Drink up and be happy. Purchase from establishments that are friendly and helpful. Look for wines with a little edge and attitude. Seek out local wineries. People are making it in your own backyard. Find wine lists that are down-to-earth, fun, and affordable. It's what I plan to do and I promise to share it with you. Hell, give yourself a certification. Don't let the certified sommeliers have all the fun with their fancy pins and letters that they add to their name on their business card. Try this on for size: Certified Cellar Punk (CCP). Maybe you have a better one. Let me know. Anyhow, it's not really about the titles, it's about the pairing a great American and global beverage with friends, family, food, music, or whatever suits you in the moment. And if your hands get a little dirty in the process, even better!
Your friend,
Andy P., CCP
No comments:
Post a Comment