Taber - In search of Bacchus: wanderings in the wonderful world of wine tourism

Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism

GEORGE M. TABER

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Copyright 2009 by George M. Taber

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First Scribner hardcover edition October 2009

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Taber, George M.

In search of Bacchus : wanderings in the wonderful world of wine tourism / by George M.
Taber.
p. cm.
1. Wine tourism. 2. Wine and wine making. I. Title.
TP548.5.T68T33 2009
641.2'2dc22
2009010147

ISBN 978-1-4165-6243-6
ISBN 978-1-4165-6249-8 (ebook)

PHOTO INSERT CREDITS
Photos courtesy of the author except as indicated. Page 1: Courtesy of Montes (bottom left). Page 2: Courtesy of Vergelegen (top). Page 3: Courtesy of Achaval-Ferrer (middle). Page 4: Courtesy of Chadwick (top); Courtesy of Leeuwin Estate (middle). Page 6: Courtesy of Vivanco (bottom). Page 7: Courtesy of Baumgart Winery (middle); Courtesy of Ruy de Brito e Cunha (bottom). Page 8: Courtesy of Castello Banfi (top); Courtesy of Banfi (bottom).

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
MAY 29 A MOVEABLE FEAST

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
JANUARY 2 BAGGING BOTH THE BIG FIVE AND FINE WINE

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
JANUARY 17 AN ASADO IN THE DESERT

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
JANUARY 26 A TRIP ON THE TREN DEL VINO

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
FEBRUARY 16 BLACK TIE IN THE BUSH

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
FEBRUARY 27 ADVENTURE AT THE KAWARAU BRIDGE

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
APRIL 4 WALKING WITH THE ELEPHANTS

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
APRIL 12 BLENDING MY OWN WINE

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
APRIL 1720 COOKING CLASSES IN A THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD MONASTERY

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
SEPTEMBER 27 WALKING THROUGH BURGUNDY

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
MAY 8 BIKING ALONG THE BANKS OF THE MOSEL

DIARY OF A WINE TOURIST:
MAY 16 A SUPRA WITH A FAMILY OF WINEMAKERS

ALSO BY GEORGE M. TABER

Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine

To Cork or Not To Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine Bottle

Travel remains a journey into whatever we cant explain, or explain away.

Pico Iyer, Sun After Dark

Ed Zimmerman, a classic Type A personality who hides it well behind a casual faade and lots of throwaway lines, doesnt do anything halfheartedly. Chairman of the Technology Group at Lowenstein Sandler, a law firm based in New Jersey and New York, he was described by clients in Chambers, the lawyer-ranking service, as one of the best venture capital lawyers in the countryperiod. The primary focus of his law practice is working with companies raising venture capital and private-equity investments. Zimmermans passion, though, is wine.

Wine was not part of Zimmermans life while he was growing up poor in Brooklyn in the 1970s and 1980s. At times his father held down three jobs, primarily working for the City of New York, but supplementing the familys income by driving a cab, delivering pizza, and picking up odd jobs such as stuffing envelopes. Embarrassed that he couldnt afford to buy the shoes he needed to wear to a wedding, the father once declined to attend the celebration.

Zimmerman still remembers his first serious wine experience. It was in December 1990 at the Cape Cod house of Betsy Marks, a girlfriend he had met on her first day at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. He cant recall the vintage or the winemaker, but hes sure it was a Puligny-Montrachet Chardonnay from Burgundy. It was an epiphany.

Although he has never been tested for it, Zimmerman may well be part of the 25 percent of the population that Dr. Linda Bartoshuk of the Yale School of Medicine classifies as supertasters. Supertasters live in a neon taste world; taste sensations are roughly three times as intense to them as non-tasters, writes Bartoshuk. Those people have an uncanny ability to remember wines and compare them to others they might have enjoyed years, if not decades, earlier. Zimmerman can recall in detail when, where, and under what circumstances he drank a memorable wine.

Zimmerman joined Lowenstein Sandler after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He soon married Betsy Marks, and the combination of good food and wine became part of their lives. In September 1992, the couple took a one-week honeymoon to London so they could dine at La Tante Claire in the Berkeley Hotel, where master chef Pierre Koffmann was cooking. Money was tight, but they stretched their budget and took the sommeliers suggestion of a half-bottle of Guigal Chteauneuf-du-Pape wine to go with squab.

For Zimmerman, traveling to vineyards where his favorite wines are made and talking with the winemakers is as exciting as going to see Santa Claus at the North Pole would be for a big-eyed five-year-old. In 1995, he and Betsy made their first trip to France, visiting the Loire Valley and Burgundy wine areas. The couple planned their itinerary around Michelin-starred restaurants and stayed in inexpensive hotels so they could spend more money on food and wine. For one memorable picnic in Beaujolais they enjoyed local cheese, a loaf of bread, and an award-winning wine from the area while looking out at a spectacular countryside. It was the ultimate French experience that every American tourist hopes to have, he recalls.

One night in South Africa in 1996, Zimmerman struck up a friendship with Christian Fins, the sommelier from Bosmans Restaurant in the Grande Roche Hotel, and the next day the two went out to visit some of Cape Towns smallest and best wineries. When traveling on business in California to see clients or law recruits at the University of California, Berkeley, Zimmerman routinely makes detours to visit the Napa Valley and dine at the homes of winemaker friends or at the famed French Laundry restaurant.

Getting to meet famous, but often reclusive, winemakers is no easy task, yet Zimmerman goes after them relentlessly. Colleagues at his law firm joke that he is so persistent in pursuing his targets that a winemaker will some day take out a restraining order against him. Zimmerman went after Austrian-born Manfred Krankl, the winemaker-owner of Californias Sine Qua Non in Ventura, California, like a stalker. Krankls winery is located in a shabby industrial park, but he makes Californias most sought-after wines. Robert Parkers