Sunday night in Brooklyn - I’m on the East Coast for 3 days before I fly to Albuquerque to meet the little munchkin who arrived during harvest. Let’s see if I can’t clear my head here and enlighten you all a bit at the same time – I’ve been working on this post for days now, with very little success. Most if it was written on various airplanes.
This trip was so many different things to me, personal and professional, that it’s been a real struggle to even find a place to start with this one. Those of you who have been following my travels have a pretty good hold on Trévallon and the harvest by this point, and if I was a little vague about the Italy trip it was mostly to save myself from the depths of nostalgia to which I am prone. Not like I really had any success with that one (you should see all the things in my journal that I DON’T post here) but there’s no sense in burdening you with that. Those of you who know me best will inevitably get stuck with it anyway.
Needless to say, the past three weeks have been very special for me – magical, even. Filled to the brim with a heady mixture of work, wine, gastronomic delights, friendship both new and old, and love that is – apparently – timeless; it is hard to say what has affected me most.
One thing I am sure of: I did the right thing, coming to Europe before the big move down south… for each and every one of the reasons that took me there. I’m going to go through them, and what I learned, in list form; at the moment that seems to be the only way I can put my thoughts in any kind of comprehensive order.
- Languages. It is wonderful to have improved my French so much, and confirmed that my Italian is still where it should be, before I spend potentially the next two years speaking Spanish. I’ve still got quite a way to go with French, but I finally feel like I can communicate well, in almost any state of mind, despite the many words that are missing from my vocabulary and some grammatical doubt. As far as Italian goes, well… I still get a huge rush every time somebody thinks I’m from Bologna.
- Vino. I learned a great deal about both viticulture (grape-growing) and viniculture (wine-making). Above all, that there is a vast difference between ‘knowing’ where wine comes from and seeing it, feeling it, tasting it, smelling it… and even hearing it. I will always be pleased to have gotten this experience for the first time in the place where there is, undoubtedly, the strongest tradition. For better or worse, France will always be seen that way in the world of wine. Now I can go absorb Argentina, and put it on top of an even stronger old world base. Here is a list of the wines I drank in Provence, and probably the beginning of an ongoing master wine list. For those of you to whom the names mean nothing, let me just say that many people would pay a good deal to eat and drink with Eloi and Floriane Durrbach… I was basically paid to do so. (And to pick their grapes, of course). That feels pretty damn cool.
- Work. I met a lot of people in the wine industry this trip – in France, those who make it; in Milan, those who sell it; and in Rome, well… those who drink it. (I know that doesn’t really count but I like literary trios a bit too much sometimes.) I also confirmed what I suspected all along – that Europe is not the place for the next phase of my career, despite my comfort level there and the social network already in place. (Not that I think it will take Buenos Aires very long to burrow under my skin.)
In Western Europe there is a long history of both enology and wine exportation; there are countless qualified young Frenchmen and Italians who were literally raised on a vineyard, or in a cantina. Plus with the exchange rate as it currently stands… it seems almost impossible for a young American to start a career there. Even one with swagger, language skills, and New York sales experience. (If I may say so myself). I have to believe it possible to go back there, with some money and a professional base already in place, and take it to the next level… but there are too few new wines to source, and too little interest in hiring an American, who has to be sponsored for a visa. Two weeks in Argentina left me feeling exactly the opposite – highly qualified, desirable in the work force, and, frankly, quite wealthy with American dollars. Plus I’ve only begun to find the really good wine down there, and almost none of it is exported any farther than Brazil. So South America here I come! But not without reopening some European doors… doors which for me seem to swing on their hinges and never really shut. Which brings me to the next and last item on this list.
- Love. Of all kinds. Outside of the New York area and certain parts of the western US, many of the people closest to my heart are in Europe. I’ve got friends there who I’ve known since before college – and somehow remained closer to than most of my school friends - as well as the woman who stole my heart 5 years ago and still refuses to give it back in its entirety. Not to mention the new friends - you know who you are. While New York isn’t exactly CLOSE to them, Argentina is significantly farther… you could have tied me to a chair in NYC and I still would have found a way to get to Europe before I move for real.
Maybe that’s overly melodramatic, as my sister often accuses me of being, but it paints a pretty clear picture.
So here I am back at home base, with just enough time to hug my family and do a couple of loads of laundry before I re-pack for Albuquerque, this time hopefully with just a carry-on. I just can’t wait to kiss that baby. Then I’m back for another few days to pack one last time, and eat at Dell’Anima (coming soon…) before the longest flight of all, on the night of October 18th. I promise at least one more post before then… in the meantime, I hope this explained some things. It certainly felt good for me to write it.