The dog days of August got me thinking … below I cross-map lessons learned about my two great passions – surfing and wine. Thanks for indulging me.
There’s always another wave (or wine) on the horizon.
Surfers feel bad when they miss a good run of swell. Or if they blow a particularly juicy wave. Same thing with fine wine. You get annoyed that you can’t ever ever seem to get off the waiting list at Rochioli, or if a lovingly stored 1999 Dujac Clos St Denis turns out to be corked. But there’s always another offering in the email in-box, and another bottle of Burgundy in the cellar to open. You just got to let it go.
Zig when others zag.
Great surf sessions often pop up when you keep expectations low. Conditions may be ho-hum at a mediocre spot, but a laid-back surf with friends often yields more pleasure than jostling with the crowds at a primo spot. Likewise, some of my best wine experiences have come when I least expected it – randomly ordering a Croatian red at the local trattoria. Off vintages too. One of the best wines I ever had was a 2004 Rousseau Clos de la Roche a few years back. Conventional wisdom would tell you bad year (green meanies to boot) and way too early – but it was a haunting, ethereal wine that night.
That said, go to Malibu (or Richebourg)!
World-class surf spots are mobbed. And world-class wines are usually expensive and hard to source. But they are simply the best. Despite the crowds, despite the hassles, there’s nothing like latching onto a machine-like peeling wave at Malibu and sweeping to shore triumphantly. It’s exhilarating. All your senses are engaged. You feel glad to be alive. A pristine bottle of Chateaux Margaux or Rayas may give you the same feeling. Sometimes you just have to go for it.
Beware the newbies.
Surfing has exploded in popularity the past decade. It seems like every new car or credit-card ad features a sporty couple with boards under the arms. It’s said that surfing has become the new golf, a business and social avenue for many Millenials on the coasts. I’m a live-and-let-live guy, but I have to admit it’s been disheartening to see L.A.’s already crowded surf spots be over-run by a pack of newcomers (think, chatty Hollywood talent agents talking shop atop shiny $1,000 boards.) Now wine is feeling the same pressures. First, it was the Chinese market blowing up Bordeaux prices, now sky’s the limit for already scarce supplies of prized Burgundy. And walk into K&L during dot-com bonus season, and you can watch a Google or Facebook exec extremely new to wine hand over an entire bonus check for cases of Musigny, d’Yquem etc. I don’t have any more right to any wine or wave than anyone else, just saying …
Beware the old timers.
See above. In every surf lineup, there’s always one grumpy guy older than you harping about the crowds and talking about how great Topanga was in the 70s before all the kooks ruined it. They wow you with magical tales of head-high glassy surf with only three people out. In the world of fine wine, similar tales are told about how fantastic white Burgundy used to be before the scourge of prem-ox. Self-satisfied vets crow about buying a case of 1985 Jayer back in the day for less than a grand. (side note: longtime Deadheads are even worse!)
Honor thy wife (or husband).
Surf widows (or widowers) have to put up with a lot. Sandy towels left on the floor. Damp wetsuits mistakenly left in the trunk to stink up the whole car. Distracted partners constantly surfing surf websites – looking at wave porn, checking out the latest wind conditions, mindlessly chatting on message boards. Partners who spend too much money on gear that they covet but really don’t need and don’t have room for. Or tediously discuss at length the nuances and intricacies of past and future sessions with like-minded obsessives. Plug in the blanks here for wine: Dirty stems and half-filled bottles left over night on counter. Damp cardboard boxes stinking up the basement. Neurotic tracking of wine auction sites. Wholly unnecessary Imelda Marcos-like purchases of yet another cult pinot from the “true” Sonoma Coast. Ungracious nit-picking about the wine served by your non-geeky friends at a casual Sunday lunch … thank the heavens if you have a spouse who loves you for who you are and puts up with your goofy hobbies – be it surfing, wine, or furries.
Enjoy the summer!