One of the characteristics that attracted me most to a career in the wine industry was a lighthearted irreverent attitude that existed to a certain extent back then. Some folks tended to exude this thumbing the nose at pretention and perceived wine snobbery or stoicism and fully embraced a Bacchanalian sense of flamboyant exuberance at the same time. Sure, some of it was marketing, but a lot of it was attitude—pure and simple.  Attitude before PC. Attitude before modern gentrification.   Attitude before wine ratings, cult wines or overpriced wine lists became de rigeur.

By the time I started working in the industry I was able to participate in a somewhat tempered irreverence (tempered by the reality of, among other things, OSHA, insurance companies, worker’s compensation, and maybe also an increasingly competitive wine market),  but I experienced it nonetheless and am grateful for it.  What, exactly, am I talking about?  Well, an example of “attitude”: my very first job was in a winery near Healdsburg.  I worked with a group of wonderful folks who were mostly born-and-raised in Sonoma County.  These were folks who had worked in the industry for a long time and their favorite saying —a mocking of the very wine we were supposed to care for—, which they lovingly passed down to me, was “It’s only a beverage.”  Meaning—”just because it’s wine, young’un, don’t take it all—or yourself, for that matter—too seriously”.  We worked hard there, I learned a lot, but also had a ton of fun, too.

Here’s another phrase I learned from David Graves of Saintsbury:  “It takes a lot of beer to make great wine”.  That was one of the most irreverent things I had heard in the land of great wine to the north.  Needless to say, the fridge was always stocked up in those days.

And some folks might remember the old Gundlach Bundschu days when the wine train was hijacked by fun-loving folks.  And what about those parties?  They are still legendary for their magnitude.  Tales are still told of half-dressed folks sleeping in the vineyards after nights of debauchery. Yes, even more parties.  I’ve been to some pretty seriously fun and memorable parties in the wine industry over the years, and have grown to know and love a few individuals who were seriously devious—and irreverent— party organizers, too (you know who you are).  I remember the days when people bought Chalone stock for the sole reason of getting invited to their highly regarded annual party and not because they expected the stock to make them a significant capital gain.

And what about water fights in the cellar on hot harvest days or practical jokes?    Well, those were the days…..

 I guess I find myself searching for irreverence lost these days because times have changed but maybe moreso because I have changed as well.  Now, I am married and have a young son, so late crazy nights drinking Shafer wines, playing poker and dancing to Funkadelic are no longer part of the plan.  I’m am also in charge of developing this winery and running it on a daily basis—so part of me is now concerned about making sure people don’t get hurt (increased insurance rates) while running around water fighting.  I find myself entrenched at times in strategizing, planning, decision making, marketing, sales issues, all in addition to making wine.  There are many more wineries out there all competing to get placed in restaurants or retail outlets…..The marketplace is more competitive, more polished and sophisticated than it once was. Yes, maybe I’m now a part of the “establishment” or of the business-types that I used to be in opposition to many years ago.  Maybe I need to instill a little more irreverence in my own life once again, but how to do this?  Hmmmmm.

Well, for a place to start, there is the Wine Patrol......

Does anyone have any thoughts?

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