Harvests Of Joy
| Robert Mondavi Harvests Of Joy. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998 |
Wine for me had always been something much larger and it still is. Wine to me is passion. It's family and friends. It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It's culture. It's the essence of civilisation and the Art of Living...When I pour a glass of truly fine wine, when I hold it up to the light and admire its colour, when I raise it to my nose and savour its bouquet and essence, I know that wine is, above all else, a blessing, a gift of nature, a joy as pure and elemental as the soil and vines and sunshine from which it springs. "Wine is Life," Petronius said two thousand years ago, and I know exactly what he meant.
We in California had enormous potential; I knew we could become one of the great wine-producing regions of the world. But the American wine industry was still in its infancy, and no one seemed to have the knowledge, the vision, or the guts to reach for the gold, to make wines that could stand proudly next to the very best from France, Italy, Germany, and Spain....[on his tour of Europe in 1962] Above all, in these vineyards and cellars and tasting rooms, I imbibed the spirit, the passion, and the commitment that inspired the creation of truly great wines...The great European wineries, with centuries of tradition and craft behind them, put their emphasis on less tangible qualities such as style, character, and bouquet. To my mind, the contrast was stark: we were treating wine as a business; the great European chateaus were treating wine as high art...
Excellence, no matter what the course. No matter how hard the work. No matter how great the personal sacrifice. Yes, I was going to work like a fanatic. But great artists are always fanatics. The painting or the poem or the symphony is not finished until every brushstroke, every syllable, every note, is finally perfect. And in perfect harmony with the rest of the creation. If we wanted to enter the ranks of The Best, if we wanted our wines to stand beside the great wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, we had to hold ourselves to just as rigorous a standard. If we wanted to enter the kingdom of high art, I know we had to go beyond the pursuit of excellence and cultivate a passion for perfection.
..Just as each child you raise is different, so it is with wines; with each year and each vintage you have to start anew.
When you give, you alwasys get more back in return. I'm not talking about material terms; I'm talking about a return in satisfaction and joy. Generosity pays! So does education...everywhere I went, the world of wine offered me a warm welcome, camaraderie, and more knowledge.
I'm inspired by this story of passion, vision, character, individuality, temperament and attention to detail, how the Napa Valley started from scratch in 1966 as a happy little farm community, with no sophistication, little tourism, and only a few restaurants and hotels. The drama of the 1976 blind tasting, the guts of these vintners to put California on the world map of great wine-producing regions. I love how they pour in their heart and soul into their business, their craft, how they sell wine through education, as part of fine food, fine art, fine music.
And how fine wine reflects the best that their land has to offer, reflecting their origins and doing so with strength, finesse and balance. Wine holds up to our eyes light and colour that no man can create. It has a touch of magic -- opening a bottle to announce the happiest moment of daily life: the gathering of family and friends around the communal table. To share the fruits of our labour. To share our heartaches and joys. To put aside our worries and our fears for a while so that we can celebrate the bounty of nature and the greatest riches of being alive.
Lessons, too on how to live. Mondavi lists them: