Lately, I have been reading and re-reading an essay Eric Asimov wrote for the New York Times, ‘In Defense of Wine’. It’s not the most cheerful reading, but is intelligently written and interesting. It’s essentially a conversation about wine.
Wine- good wine, real wine-is a conversation of its own, speaking of culture, gastronomy, location, and weather with each sip. Real wine whispers of the hands of the winemaker and shouts about dirt. Real wine has a lot to say.
Consequently, real wine PEOPLE tend to have fascinating things to say, about wine itself, the people who make it, places where it’s made, and other loosely related subjects. In our new tasting series, Conversations, we’re inviting some of our favorite wine people in to do one man (or woman) shows, telling you about themselves, their wines, and their stories.
First up on July 27 is Matt Brooks. Matt has, over a 30+ year career in wine, has been a warehouse employee, a wine buyer, a driver, a retail manager, a salesman, and a portfolio manager. In other words, he has plenty of experience. From the epiphany moment of first tasting the dusty tannins of a Dry Creek Zinfandel to gaining an appreciation for the ethereal beauty of Loire Valley wines. From meeting rock star winemakers (and sometimes actual rock stars, too) and finding that they were wonderfully down to earth to learning to worship Pinot Noir, a wine that is almost wholly dependent on the earth from which it springs.
One more thing: Matt is one of the infinitesimally small number of wine people who is almost universally beloved. Because he’s just a really decent, fun, interesting, stand up guy. So come to the tasting…we’ll have some Vouvray petillant (best drunk straight from the bottle, dangling your legs off a paddleboard, but we’ll make do). Then we’ll explore some Cab Franc from the Loire-in white and rose versions- take a side trip to Rioja for a white Tempranillo, investigate some stunning, terroir-driven Anderson Valley Pinot, and finish up with a single vineyard Rioja that might leave you speechless. But we hope not, because we’re looking forward to this conversation.