Once in awhile, inspiration and resolution come along in unexpected moments.  I poured our Cima Collina Pinot at a benefit dinner for local public radio station KAZU on Wednesday night which was hosted by Lynne Rosetto Kasper of the Splendid Table radio show.  I was looking forward to this event because I have been a fan of the Splendid Table and especially of Lynne for many years now.  What I like about the radio show is not only the depth and broad range of her knowledge of food, cooking and culinary traditions, but also in the warmth of her radio presence, a characteristic that I associate with a hostess of great proportions rather than a radio personality.  Well, I was happy to find out that she is just as affable—and inspirational—in person.  She shared a number of her experiences of cooking with Julia Child, as well as her experiences traveling through Italy collecting material for her books and her experiences as a child with food.  She was very witty and insightful.

She said something, though, which resonated with me and a philosophical struggle I have been dealing with the last few years, and that is the idea that can a wine be made traditionally in modern times?  How could it truly be “traditional” when made with modern equipment, commercial yeast, in stainless steel or plastic bins, with modern manipulation, technological know-how, bottling lines, etc. etc.? A “traditional” wine, in my mind at least, would seem to have been made by folks who are more in touch with nature, the soil and the seasons, than most folks are today.  But, in spite of all of this, I truly believe I’m making a traditional product, but my problem was that I haven’t had a whole lot of evidence to back this idea up, even to myself.

Lynne saved me from my conundrum when she discussed modern, improvisational cooking.  When it works, she said, it is because that although it is improvisational, it is with knowledge of and respect for tradition first, and that the spirit of tradition is always the root of really good food, no matter if it is fusion, Italian, Chinese, etc. 

Although she was talking about food, this idea of the spirit of tradition opened a ray of realization that solved my dilemma.  There is a thread of tradition that ties all winemakers, new and old, in this thousands year old practice—the trials and tribulations, the discoveries, the waiting to find out how good it actually turned out, the experiments, the disappointments.  No, I’m not making wine in clay urns and storing it underground, nor am I fermenting red wine with it’s stems and pressing it in a wooden, hand-cranked press.  But, in the end, I am making wines in the spirit of tradition, something that I believe in and something that links what I do now with what has been done before. Now, that is inspiring and something I can sink my teeth into!  This will keep me going for awhile (philosophical fuel is underrated I think….).  Thanks, Lynne, for helping to settle this little personal debate and thanks for being an inspiration as well!

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.

W. Somerset Maugham 

By the way…..

Everyone loved the Pinot at this dinner and we all had a really delightful time, and…....

I will pour Cima Collina wines at The Bountiful Basket next Saturday, May 27th, from 1-4. 

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