Good Friends We Have Had, Good Friends We Lost

'Brut Force With a Touch of Finesse'

The single-most enlivening part of my time in the wine industry, without a doubt, has been the people I’ve met. People drive me. Their quirks, life stories, clothing choices, cleanliness, eating habits, accents… they’re fascinating. From high-profile sommeliers to legendary winemakers and writers, I’ve shared some amazing dinners, been welcomed into people’s homes, and popped some stellar corks at my relatively young age. Those who have made my experiences most worthwhile up to this point, however, are all the young people I’ve met during my stint as a ‘traveling winemaker’. Sadly, last week I learned that one of those bright young stars is no longer with us. 

Niki Dow was a young guy from New Zealand I met last year during my brief ‘harvest’ time in California. He shared a tiny room in a modest suburban Santa Rosa apartment with some friends who were working at a different local winery. He was a seamless counterpart in the cellar. His constant, quick-witted grin was enough to make you laugh in even the most stressful situations, or elicit laughter in the calmest of times. He put up with the crazy antics of his Moldovan roommate ‘John’ who didn’t speak a lick of English, and even managed to convince us all that John was a good guy at heart, despite some of his outward antics. Niki lightened the mood for anyone who cared to share in conversation. His eloquent stories of his rugby days from college made me wish I could have spent time as a fit young kiwi bloke; I was stoked to get an old rugby shirt of his when he moved back to NZ, even though it had a few holes in it and plenty of stains from a tough vintage. His physical aptitude was apparent, and he seemed to be the type that succeeded in every task he took on. Nonetheless, he possessed the ‘Kiwi-Humble’ I’ve come to know and love; so overwhelmingly sarcastic and jabbing (in a lighthearted sense) upon first impression, but in the end full of compassion and friendship. Nik, as I knew him, embodied all that I’ve come to love about harvest. A young person, fresh out of school with the world ahead of him, when it was easier to find a fulltime, well-paying job at home and settle into normalcy he embarked on a journey to follow his dreams, better his craft and expand his world outlook.

With a number of vintages under my belt I’ve gotten pretty good at saying goodbye. We, as seasonal harvest workers spend so many hours together in a relatively short timeframe. Best friends are made alongside the wine, and when it’s all said and done, everyone usually parts ways and moves on to the next job. I have fostered some high quality friendships and kept in touch with a few people, but have also lost touch with many more I was sure to see again. The wine industry is so small though that you never know when you might one day cross paths with an old friend. I somehow figured that would happen with Nik so his passing hit me like a bag of bricks. Maybe it’s also because it could have been me if I hadn’t decided to stay home this vintage. Maybe because it’s a harsh realization of hope, so quickly lost. He was in Portugal working for a world-class Port producer, a job that isn’t given to just anyone. Only 23 years old, he was surely brimming with excitement and infusing the locals with his positively high-octane energy. They were surely challenged, yet humbled by his work ethic, so notable it has inspired a Facebook tribute group called ‘TheLegacy of the War Donkey-Niki Dow’.  I encourage you to check it out.

After sorting through the emotions in his passing, I move forth with a renewed energy and outlook. I’ve reached out to a few old friends who deserve a better effort from me. I’m going to do a better job of busying myself with work that I truly love, push myself to physical and intellectual extremes, and be sure to laugh a little more often, knowing that today could be my last.

Cheers to you Nik! You will be missed, but your legend will live on and inspire us all.

I have arrived...

I just wanted to shoot off a quick blog to kick off a series of postings on my current whereabouts.

I arrived last Friday in France after a long two days of travel and made my way from Paris by train to Beaune, the center of the 'Cote d'Or' as they call it here. My boss picked me up from the train station and took me to my current home for the next two months. I'm living at the 'cuverie' or winery for Domaine de Montille, who I will be working for. I live upstairs in an apartment with the other interns or 'stagaires' as they're called here in France. There are two winemakers from Australia, one from California, and another from New Zealand arriving Friday. We have a live in chef from Tel Aviv Israel who arrived today. He works at a top restaurant back home and we are all excited to have him cooking all of our meals for us. The food here is amazing, quite hearty. Lots of cheese (epoisses is the stinkiest of stinky cheese but phenomenal when done right), breads, mustard, cassis, ham, mushrooms, escargots, beef bourgignon, and coq au vin. Did anyone say wine? I haven't tried anything too phenomenal yet but today we got to taste through 5 different chardonnays from the 2008 vintage that our winemaker made. Amazing to taste the same grape from the same vintage made by the same person at the same facility from completely different vineyards within the SAME relative region and they all taste COMPLETELY different. This is the true essence of what the French call Terrioir.

Work started on Tuesday and so far I've spent all of my time in the vineyards trimming weeds (my boss sent me out with the vineyard crew because none of them speak english and I'm the only one who can communicate in French from our crew). It's been tough work but quite amazing walking though vineyards steeped in so much history. As the way vineyards are classified here you have in ascending order of quality the 1)regional wines of Bourgogne, 2) the Villages wines (i.e. Meursault, Volnay, Pommard, Beaune) 3) The 1er cru wines 4) The Grand Cru wines (being the most prestigious). Ask bill to explain if you have any questions; it's rather confusing. I've spent the better part of the past two days in 1er and Grand Cru vineyards, pinot and chard vines with average ages of 30 to 40 years, each being worth well more than the money in my wallet. It's a wine geek's paradise. This morning we started at 6am to beat the heat and on the way out to the vineyard I could see the sun rising over Beuane and the Alps in the distance (A three hour drive away)!

Needless to say, I'm in for a great harvest. It's expected that our first fruit will start being picked next week already, which is early considering that last year it was mid-September. It will be a short but sweet harvest but I know I will learn heaps. My boss Brian, who is from California originally, told me today that he would like to put me in charge of 'les caves' which is actually quite a large responsibility. If this happens, I will oversee all of the barrel work: filling, washing, cleaning, transferring, stacking, etc. Assuming I don't spend the rest of the time in the vineyards I will be spending a lot of time underground in a moldy dark space steeped in history. It's crazy here because you see these houses in the middle of town where winemakers live but underneath are caves where they make and store their wines that you never could imagine existed.

Please ask questions and offer suggestions for topics you'd like to see me write about in the next two months. Email me at dougrweber@gmail.com. I want this to be as much of a learning experience for my readers as it is for me. Until the next time,

Cheers,
and
Happy #WineWednesday!
-dw

New Directions

Ciao all.
Sorry I've been a bit lax in my posts lately. I've been busy, been in a funk, been trying to try my hand at other things, and been writing for tktwincities about food and wine in Minneapolis. I'm back. I've decided that I need to have a new focus with my wine writing. There are soooooooo many wine blogs out there, but I won't say too many because I'm so glad to see that so many people have taken their passion for wine, put it up on the web, and shared it for everyone else to experience and soak up.

I feel that my most common passion stems from experiencing wine from a number of aspects, hence 'feelthewine.' I've thought long and hard about how much of a problem I have with the 100 point scale, and the fact of the matter is, if the setting is right, more times than not, I'll rate a wine in the high 90's, unless of course it's a total dog. I'd like to focus on what kind of wine goes best with certain situations. I'd like to tell stories about what I am doing and why I choose certain wines to go with it. Have you ever had a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc after mowing the lawn? The crisp freshness relaxes your sweaty being after a few hours slaving away, while the grassy-ness comes out even more as the fresh-cut-grass aroma emits from the terroir surrounding. Wine pairing is not just for food in my eyes. I'd like to highlight the back stories about the producers, which helps immensly in knowing and appreciating a wine. Knowing that the vines are over 100 years old or that the winemaker has no formal training in wine-making and used to be a skateboarder are HUGE in my eyes when appreciating a wine. With an upcoming trip to Burgundy to work the harvest I'd also like to capture stories and experiences that most of you won't likely ever encounter in your daily life. I'm working on adding a video element to the works. Until then, please keep your eyes peeled for things to come. Most importantly, I really really want all of my readers to bring forth suggestions as to what they would like to see from my content. Most of you know me, my strengths and weaknesses. What do you think I should focus on regarding wine? Please be honest, open, and don't hold back. Be with me on the journey and I can't wait for things to come.

Cheers,
DW

email me: dougrweber@gmail.com
or comment below.