An interchange with Robert Thornton on a different thread led me to the Mayacamas website where I found what has to be one of the coolest notes I’ve ever read:
“It happened. It was a 1978 Mayacamas Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and after just one sip, the world looked different: more nuanced, more beautiful, more alive. I was forcefully reminded in a thunderclap instant—what the French call a ‘coup de foudre’—why we bother with wine. It’s what those of us who cellar wine are really looking for. This wine was so moving. It had that holy grail quality of terroir that I’m forever seeking. But it was more than terroir in this instance. The key element, the electrifying ingredient, came from transformation…great wines, by definition, require transformation…my greatest wish? That we are all privileged to drink, preferably more than a few times, wines that have fully transformed. When wines transform, so, in some fashion, do we—if only for a blissful, transporting moment.”
—Matt Kramer
The Wine Spectator
Wow. That’s why I drink wine, to be sure.
Reminds me of this:
In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more.
Have a good weekend, everyone!