When I landed my first gig as a restaurant beverage manager, my boss sent me to lunch with a seasoned New York wine buyer to help orient me to my new vocation. My dining partner bestowed two seemingly meager bits of advice over Chinese food in the West Village:

“Trust your palate,” he said, “and remember that no one is your friend.”

I then asked the veteran somm, who was drinking Coca-Cola with his lunch, for a book recommendation, something that would help anchor and guide my wine education, and he suggested Emile Peynaud’s Knowing and Making Wine, a copy of which I tracked down, with some difficulty, and found to be a mind-numbing technical guide to the basic chemistry of winemaking.

His words have returned to my mind over the last two decades. The first tip allowed me to gain confidence in my impressions, and the second made me wary of chummy salespeople with special deals, but didn’t stop me from forming great and lasting friendships in the business.

And, though the book struck me as dense and useless, eventually – not by my reading it, just by virtue of its existence - it changed the way I thought about wine. Herein are the scientific facts of the liquid, and all wine is simply a variation on these themes. These are the basics; the rest is just words, and there are too many out there to read. Peynaud’s book seemed to say, “Taste all you can, pay attention, and form your own impressions.”

Here at Oakland Yard, we pour themed tasting flights every Thursday and Sunday.

Come taste with us. Trust your palate. Use your words.


TASTING TODAY from 4 to 8pm: French Whites and Italian Reds

2014 Font-Mars Picpoul de Pinet
2015 Domaine de Seailles Cotes de Gascogne
2011 Bergerie de l’Hortus Blanc

2015 Le Cantine di Indie Polpo Rosso Nerello Mascalese
2012 Villa S. Anna Chianti Colli Senesi
NV Quaquarine Francesco Solorosso


Also, we do have a copy of Knowing and Making Wine here at the shop, in case you’re having trouble with volatile acidity or a stuck fermentation, or if you’d like to induce a nap.

Cheers,

Max