You no doubt know many of the clichés that surround our beverage of choice – things like “
In Vino Veritas” or “wine is meant to be shared”—phrases that have taken hold and been passed from mentor to student, who eventually becomes mentor and passes them down the line. As someone tasked with learning, visiting, and tasting—and then passing those lessons along—I need to be on my guard about keeping purposeful focus in transmitting more than just information. It’s easy to slide into reporting mode, giving the facts about a particular bottle or visit without giving a sense of why a particular thing is worth your time to not only read about, but to take the next step of seeking it out for yourself. You may have heard the lifestyle mantra (kudos to Konmari) “if it doesn’t spark joy, get rid of it.” As I mature, I’m finding these words to carry more and more wisdom, and I’m trying to be mindful about including that spark in my writing. A couple of recent entertainment experiences served as a reminder to stay focused on the joy that the product – wine in this case – is all about.
If you’re looking at a wine website—which you definitely are—you’ve likely seen the movie
Bottle Shock, and you likely enjoyed picking at the inaccuracies and omissions in the movie, as I did…but at the same time were able to walk away with an overall good feeling about the story. Well, the movie has now become a stage musical, and I happened to catch the last performance of its world premiere run a couple of weeks ago.
(Before I dive into this, a little background – as a lifelong musician I have to say that musical theater is generally at the bottom of my list when it comes to what I’d call great music, and if I were a music critic rather than a wine critic I’d probably not bother reviewing musical theater performances since writing negative reviews isn’t something I participate in, simply because it doesn’t bring me joy.)
That said, if you’re a wine fan, I highly recommend catching this show if you can. While it still avoids (wisely) some of the more mundane aspects of the story, the printed program does give links to web pages that do tell what really happened, and the presenters claim in print that “this is a fairytale version of events” and that they “have endeavored to bring you the rock and roll truth of its spirit.” From that viewpoint, the show is a complete success, with people on their feet genuinely cheering at the close.
That response arose from the transmission of joy from players to audience – the audience got the gist of the story, and they got a taste of the feeling that the real story likely conferred on the people who actually lived it – even if in real time it took a while to sink in. That’s what a good wine review should do. Really, it’s all that a wine review can do – give the gist of what the wine offers and a feeling or an
impression that makes the reader want to find out more. In my mind, if I can provide that to readers then I’m providing a useful service.
Service. Now
there’s a word.
Dictionary.com gives thirty-five different definitions encompassing its use as a noun, a verb and an adjective, and it’s caught my attention of late in that it can often be a noun and a verb simultaneously. In racquet sports for example, it’s a thing that’s also an action. In fact, it can be a one-word complete sentence. In order for the thing to happen, the action must occur, and true joy is encapsulated within that combination.
This idea has my attention lately thanks to a television series called
The Bear.
Quick synopsis if you haven’t seen it yet: A rag-tag, family run, Italian beef joint in Chicago (run by a rather rag-tag family) seeks to remake itself into a Michelin Star-worthy restaurant. Let’s just say that along the way, changes must be made. The first two seasons are available on Hulu.
In the show, the thing that must change is service, and the realization that service is the business that we’re in is what it’s all about. That’s the show, but it’s much deeper than that. I’m not just talking about restaurants here – I’m talking about the business of living, and I believe that wine is trying to tell us that very story.
If you think about it, wine is all about service. A wine grower friend, Stu Smith at Smith-Madrone on Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain, has a favorite saying: “We’re not here to serve wine – wine is here to serve us!” Yet, at every step of the process, someone or some group of us is serving wine so that wine can serve us. Whether it’s tilling the soil, tending the vines, battling pests as small as phylloxera or as large as baboons, harvesting, fermenting, barreling, bottling, uncorking, pouring – service is exacted in order that the “serve-us” can occur. The question now is, does this sound like joy yet?
When I talked to Stu on the occasion of his fifty years on Spring Mountain a couple years back, he said he had no plans to retire, and I suspect that he’d give the same answer today, because he found joy in the process. I’m quite sure he’d also say that at times it’s been a monumental pain in the ass, but that he isn’t about to let that slow him down because the payoff can be so great.
I know, you’re now wondering what all this might have to do with you. “I don’t have a vineyard, I don’t make wine…”. Maybe not, but that just means that you are at the closest point to “serve-us.” With a little service, you can serve the collective us and yourself all at once.
In the “Forks” episode of
The Bear, Cousin Richie is sent (banished, in his mind) to the best restaurant in the city to see how it’s done, and he spends a few days polishing forks and wallowing in his perceived punishment. Eventually though, he catches fire for service in a way that….
I’ll stop there so as not to spoil the show for you, but I will say that this is the most impactful series episode I’ve ever seen on television. Period.
You’ve no doubt gotten a taste of this with wine already, but I encourage you to look for ways to up your game because there’s always deeper joy to be found. My wife and I have for years auctioned off a tasting party at our home in support of a local school music program, but this year, after seeing the musical and The Bear, we looked for ways to incorporate some of these concepts into the party, which we were able to do easily and to great effect.
So, I challenge you to join me, Cousin Richie and others—you know who you are—as stewards of joy when it comes to wine. If you’re visiting websites like this one, I suspect you’re already part or even most of the way there. For example: Can you serve others with wine the way that a song can serve an idea with a depth that words alone cannot? Choose that or another concept, lean into it and see what happens. Be the spark that ignites another’s joy—not only is such a spirit infectious, but the payoff for the steward can be glorious.
P.S.: You’ll catch Richie reading a book in the “Forks” episode – the book is Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, and I score it 100 points.
