What surfing taught me about wine, and vice versa

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!

Cool post Matt. Thanks for the read.

You could make a career out of writing. Loved reading this.

Wow, excellent read. Please post more often.

You particularly struck a great balance between the resentment of newbies and the tedium of the old timers. Wine, surfing and SoCal are all places where the “pull up the ladders” mentality is strong - I got in, but now nobody else should move in and make it more crowded, expensive, or uncool for me. And for the most part, it’s a selfish outlook which is not admirable. But newbies need to show respect and consideration, as well. There’s plenty of room for all of us, we just need to treat each other the right way and to respect each other’s space as best we can.

As a surfer and wine-lover myself, I loved this. Unfortunately, my time to surf has severely decreased as has my wine budget. Yay kids!

Great post!

Don’t surf 1/100th of how much I used to when living in LA, but I truly miss it every day. Passion for waves and wine runs as deep as the ocean.

Best post here in ages, thanks.

Signed non-surfing Jew.

Fantastic post.
Thanks.

That’s a damn good post.

Kook, always love that knock.

I really enjoyed this

Great post. Thanks

great/refreshing post matt!

Extremely well done. Makes me want to get to Malibu (and buy some Richeborg)!

So I have to ask, have you surfed the North Shore? I’m a non-surfer married to a surfer and I have watched those at Sunset and Pipe and was in awe. I can only imagine …

Once on a business trip to Honolulu two of us drove up to the north shore because I wanted to body surf Bonzai pipeline. Bucket list thing. Took the churchills with me in my luggage.

We got there and my buddy said “no thanks” so I went out alone. Awesome experience if not terrifying. It’s an extremely steep and powerful break (violent really) into shawdow water with coral outcrops. It’s a lot of work riding the waves and equally challenging getting out because it breaks in such shallow water there’s nowhere to hide when diving under a set. You clink to the bottom hoping not to peel off as they roar overhead.

The north shore is a beautiful place, rural still. Turtle Bay is a nice place to stay but I digress.

I haven’t heard the word “kook” since my old San Diego days. Great post, applicable in a few fields of my life even today…

Glenn and rest of crew – appreciate the kind words. I had fun thinking about this post. Maybe we can all have a surfing/wine offline sometime!

No, unfortunately. I also have never had a sip of Montrachet either!

U2 was so great when nobody cared about them. Same for REM.

There will always be more.

Signed, a pre-Touch of Gray Deadhead.

Great post, Matt. From the winemaking side, one analogy that I enjoy on late nights: surfing is mostly paddling, winemaking is mostly cleaning, but its the great rides and wines you remember.

Matt,

Thank you! What a great post during these dog days of summer. Been 2 weeks since the last swell of any size and itching to get back into the water.

I’m certainty up for a surf/wine offline.

There’s always another wave (or wine) on the horizon - Great perspective and so true. Kids have certainly mellowed me out on this one.

Zig when others zag - “Great surf sessions often pop up when you keep expectations low.” How true. And one of the best wine experiences I had came with no expectations, a bottle of Smothers Brothers pulled out of dirt underneath someone’s house! One of the discards when a new “real” cellar was built.

That said, go to Malibu (or Richebourg)! - Love my mellow beach days at Manressa, but love an epic day at the Lane or Pleasure when you have to get out of the water and run up the coast to jump back in. We make sure to make open special bottle when appropriate.

Beware the newbies - hahaha, loved this one. Costco boards take over spots on days when it’s under head high! Best bet on those days goes back to low expectations and hoping for the best.

Beware the old timers - haha, hear this on wine and surf in SC! Especially some of my old programmers, used to have the West side to themselves or used to be able to buy Monte Bello for $10/bottle (or something like that).

Honor thy wife (or husband) - How true. I feel extremely luckily, she enjoys the wine hobby and loves the beach.