When I was in university, the arts department chairman and his wife, who ran the dance department, “recruited” me to join the ballet class. They “needed” men, and I was low hanging fruit for the picking. I “volunteered” at first reluctantly, and then after I realized I would be in a close setting with 35 women, just them and me sweating to the oldies, I thought again. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
The epiphany moment I had was when we were doing this “opening of the flower to the sunrise” choreography. I was the “pistil” and the women were the “petals.” They all laid their hands on me and did some movement and their pressure held me in place while I held them up, in a manner of speaking. It was then that I realized that not only was ballet an amazing discipline, both physical and cerebral, but it was a model for things to come in my future life in wine. Yeah, I know, it’s a stretch. But so was the all the stuff I learned about wine from the nuns and Catholic school. So, here goes:
• Balance – One of the most important things I have learned in life, not just about wine. Balance is everything. It keeps you upright, it prevents you from injuring yourself, and it is a sign of good health. Wine without balance is lopsided, sour, tilted, a disaster of a wine. Think of an orange wine made by someone who is more interested in the “statement” they are making than in giving pleasure to the receiver. It’s without virtue, but it yells “ Look out here I come,” like a bull in a china shop. It’s a mess. And likewise, as in dance or life, without balance, there is no beauty.
• Stay in your lane – This is important in ballet, for if you don’t hit your mark, someone will tumble. In wine, there’s a lot of folks who don’t stay in their lane. Sometimes it turns out OK, like for many Super Tuscans. But ask the folks in Piedmont who had Cabernet and Nebbiolo blends foisted upon them, aged heavily in first year toasted small barrels. Not something to go with a classic vitello tonnato. I’m all for a little lane changing, when you’re ready to pass someone slower. Just don’t be swerving in my lane and causing lots of danger.
• Blending modern with classic – The Beatles, Stravinsky, Billie Eilish. Huh? Yeah, that’s right. In ballet class, Billie Eilish hadn’t yet been born, or even imagined. But we were there waiting for someone like her to come along. And while we were marking time, we learned to live with the classics right alongside the modernists. Martha Graham, meet Galina Ulanova. Beauty and grace spring from many different fountains. And so, in wine, there can be this wonderful marriage of ancient with Tomorrowland. We see it all the time, especially in the younger wine producing countries like Australia, South Africa, North and South America. When I first tried a Vermentino from Texas I was bowled over. I loved it! Same with Montepulciano and Aglianico. Not that I still don’t love and adore those wines from Italy and France (Rolle over Beethoven), they are my daily bread and butter wines. Just like listening to Ludwig!
• Potential – Oh yeah, that phrase gets bandied about a lot lately, doesn’t it? In ballet, potential is finite, based upon the youth and the health of the dancer. A young Nureyev was a site to behold. An aged Rudolph, not so very much. Tragic, in fact. Still, a lesson. Like the humans, a wine only has so much potential. A Refosco from Friuli probably won’t soar to the heights that a Brunello or a Barolo/Barbaresco might. Still, it can find its place in the pantheon of wine enjoyability. Likewise, I learned as a dancer, that my place wasn’t to soar, it was to provide support (remember the pistil and the petals?). We all have potential. How we best utilize it is where we find our greater purpose.
• Stretching – Stretching accomplishes several things. First, it warms the muscles and gets them ready for more strenuous activity. It’s like decanting a wine. Secondly, it prepares the body of the dancer for the challenges to come. In wine, the challenge is first: not to become vinegar. And although that is where it will ultimately go if it proceeds in time past its potential, it can present itself as a wine that lands in its perfect place with perfect timing. It’s rare, but it happens. But not without stretching. Metaphorically, it feels as though I have been stretching all my life. Fortunately, I haven’t been decanted, as that would portend something that I don’t think would be very pretty. But, as a lifelong devotee of dance and ballet, I respect and venerate the stretching exercise. In wine, again, I’ve witnessed over and over, just how a little stretching can turn a wine, which I might have had an apprehension for, coming around to the utter relief that, indeed it did come around, and we all at the table benefited from a little time warming up the muscles.
• Strong Finish – And finally, the finale. Like music, the dance that goes with it needs a little flourish in the end. Something that says, “Yes, I’ve been here. Aren’t I fabulous? And now, I must leave you!” Hopefully wanting some more.
Everything ends. But how you end is paramount in how one remembers your performance. Likewise in wine. If you just trail off into some pitiful little corner of the cellar, diminishing with every sip, well, you won’t be asked back to the table anytime soon. But you get a good running jump and get some flight in the air and land on your feet, well, a gold medal might be there at the end waiting for you. So, with wine, so with ballet, so with humans. Finish well, and don’t overstay your time at the table or on the stage. And with that I will leap off and leave you all, hopefully wanting some more.
