Getting back from Europe tomorrow and it turned our to be one of the more extremely difficult trips of my life. As a result my inspiration to write about wine is pretty non existent at this time and the forseeable future so this site will be here but not updated for a while. I'll be back one day. Thanks for everyone who reads and comments. It is greatly appreciated.
Keep your chin up. Reboot and we'll see you again soon.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what has happened, but I look forward to your return.
ReplyDeletesometimes it's good to take a break but I know everyone will look forward to your return. Buon viaggio, man.
ReplyDeleteWhatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Hope that you recover quickly and are back on-site with your usual insightful comments.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Lyle, as one of your regular readers i am conident that you will conquer whatever is dragging you down. Best wishes, and don't forget you have a community of strength to draw upon here...
ReplyDeleteHang in their pal. There are all too few voices writing about the wines and producers you do so I hope you recharge soon!
ReplyDeleteDon't let the bastards grind you down.
call me
ReplyDeleteDrK
i hope you will write again, soon! you make me laugh! :)
ReplyDeleteHarold-Ralph.
Oops! Taking away all your inspiration isn't how these supplier trips are supposed to work....
ReplyDeleteBendelow
Were the wines that bad!? Sorry. I hope all is well and we will be here when you decide to resume writing. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteYour writing is a pleasure and will be missed. And I will likely be drinking much poorer wine because of your absence- who else can I rely on for advice about great rieslings available in NYC. Thanks, and best of luck.
ReplyDeleteI'll be back in a couple of weeks. I just need to get away from the blogosphere for a bit. I'll be honest the trip was more negative than positive and the interested parties know exactly what I am talking about. I made mistakes . . .they made mistakes but this trip was weird to say the least. I have only 12 minutes left as i am at CDG airport and am paying for this. I am in a very negative space due to to this trip plus I left my notes at an estate in germany and they will be mailed back to me.
ReplyDeleteI'll try and nail down what sucks about my trip.
1) tasting too many wines sucks
2) Beaune sucks and ther wines are much better than the town and the vineyards. Aesthetically the Beaujolais is much more beautiful by far! The French are also so guarded and closed and just like "no" all the time. It was a weird vibe in France plus they have no interest in speaking English. So that sucked for me as i know no French. I am inquisitive with winemakers and I asked if a wine was going to be tasted in a certain cellar in Beaune and I just got cold stares. Never happen in Germany. There is this weird cold vibe in France including the Beaujolais and especially Burgundy I could not shake.
3) Germany had very high moments but I was also there on some serious business with a friend and you know the old saying . . .we are probably not friends anymore . . .just business acquantances (sp?) . .
So combine being sick (twice)...some fucked up business shit (twice) and having people perturbed at you because of things out of your control it was 60 bad 40 good . . but my wine inspiration is lost for a bit . .but it will be back . . .i will never be happier to be on New York Soils, get in a cab with a guy with a turban and BO that smells worse than a stinky bottle of auxey-duresses and have hive drive me home to my beautiful girlfriend and my beautiful kitty.
I got four minutes left but I will probably start blogging the good, the bad, and maybe the ugly about my journey in France and germany mid march . . . .or if Barack ties up the Democratic Nomination . . .
Baracks and Fruits?? What do you think?
Proest!
Sorry to hear your trip to France was less than stellar. If you didn't dislike grenache so much, I'd recommend you come south where there's more sun and therefore happier people! Shame about Beaune, it can be a magical place given the right circumstances. Enjoy your homecoming and come back soon!
ReplyDeleteCrack open a can of Fresca and crank up the Special Ed and Digital Underground.
ReplyDelete-Eric Z.
That will teach to snub Friuli and Alto Adige (where the real great whites of the world are made, ahhhahahhahahahaha!) (As I savor a 1999 Jermann Pignacolusse (needing 6-12 more years of aging.))
ReplyDeleteYour real mistake was traveling by plane in the winter...it's difficult not to get sick. What were you thinking?!
Anyway, this is a great time for you to launch your own wine magazine, Not Spoofulated. Charge $240/year, paypal only, please. :)
Lyle,
ReplyDeleteBe strong! I'll look forward to reading you soon.
Take your time and drink good wine ;-)
Best regards,
Sobre Vino
www.sobrevino.com
Get better soon. Need some momofuku therapy?
ReplyDeleteI told you he was an asshole and you didn't wanna listen. Now you KNOW too.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, according to Pavlov,
the best relaxation is the change of activity.
When I got fed up with cockholsters from the wine world, I opened...
Active Trader Talk Board
found few classmates, they are all over the world now and I feel as good as I haven't felt in ages. I even can talk wine again...if pressed to do so.
Lyle, this too shall pass. Cheers.
WTF? Dude, get over this! If all you needed was someone to negotiate with the French, I could have gone and odne that bit. And hey, you could have handed the Germans...
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, if one were to stop blogging for every bad experience.
Get it together, li'l buckaroo, the force is trong withcha...
Let's get together and do a cull party next week or something.
M.
Hi Lyle!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you are down. I hope you don't stay away too long! Enjoy being back home!!
Wow. Must be a Karma on both sides of the Atlantic.
ReplyDeleteLyle,
You didn't get to see my latest blog entry, but the funk is here, and I didn't even have to leave the country to get it.
I do believe that Jack has the answer--always go to Italia, and not with importers of any sort! At a dinner in Verona I once had to tell an importer to sit down--he was making all of us look like ugly Americans, including the more beautiful ones, like my wife and I.
Manuel,
ReplyDeleteI love having to say this to to you. But chill the fuck out! Everyone needs a hiatus every know and then. I am an idealistic guy to a fault. It just wasn't what I thought it was gonna be. That always bums me out. Just like Crush wasn't what I thought it was gonna be or the Parker Board. Takes me some time. Cull party no doubt but March . .
Serge,
This had nothing to do with Joe Dressner.
I must confess my visits to Burgundy have all been positive over the years and I don't really speak French, but was always with someone who did. I admit I prefer Italy like the other writers above, but that's probably because I speak Italian, which dramatically changes the experience.
ReplyDeleteI have heard many stories over the years about miserable experiences with importers on wine junkets so your experience is not unique. I remember one I went on years ago in the Lanquedoc that was a terrible.
I hope you feel better after a few nights in your own bed. I did.
Craig,
ReplyDeleteSome people can taste alot of wine. Others cannot. I cannot and when you are on a trip where that is involved it can put a damper on things. I already feel my mojo starting to come back slowly but surely.
Lyle,
ReplyDeleteThe mojo will return. Until then, relax & recover. Drink some non-spoofy stuff at your own pace & enjoy. We all look forward to your return!
Oh, I'm entirely chilled. I'm just worried about you, man, frosty as I am. It's not like you were in Spain, or something... March is a few days away. Let's.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the kids turn one on Saturday.
M.
Lyle, what made you think I meant him!? Actually I did not.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I agree with Manuel, don't sweat the small stuff and keep your nose up. Always.
Look forward to your return, Lyle. In the mean time, get cracking on the classics and report back. A good book and a glass or two where there's no annoying commerce to come between you and the sheer enjoyment of it may be just the thing.
ReplyDeleteBest,
John (tenbrooks)
Lyle - I agree with you. I know people don't get this, but tasting too much wine is no fun at all. It takes the pleasure of it right out of you. Perhaps now you better understand how grouchy they are over at eRobertParker.com. ;)
ReplyDeleteCraig, there is nothing wrong with classics, but I found an interesting new one:
ReplyDelete'Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets'
From the book review:
"Because we are subject to the influence and demands of experts and leaders, along with the groupthink of crowds, our ability to reason and stand alone in a state of independence is constantly compromised. At one time or another, we are all subject to the pull of the crowd."
..and this applies to financial markets, politics and I extrapolate, even to the wine world.
Good read.
Lyle...if I had known it was a first trip to Burgundy..or really anywhere in France..I could have warned you.
ReplyDeleteThe French speak French...why should they speak English?...golden rule is..try a sentence in French..when they notice you can't speak it..you MAY..I say may..get some help..you either 'Parlez Francais'..or you 'Parlez Silence'.
My French means I can order wines, food and general chat..but a tasting in a cellar..would be mainly grunts and nods...
Now..Germany(where I have lived 30 years..German perfect)...is different...most can speak English.. in fact..they will almost insist..even if you can only speak a few words of German.
Now..who said the Germans were arrogant?..poppycock!
Reading your blog..you say what you mean..well...you gotta take the good with the bad...you had a few 'Bad Bottles of Experience'..and you'll be back as you love wine.
I check your blog cos it is the only other Blog in the world that makes notes about my love 'Spatburgunder. I was looking forward to your comments and notes of the trip. I am near Frankfurt..next time you come in..let me know..you can rant and rave to me..I'll give you a blank look and a glass of wine.
Regards
Barry
Barry,
ReplyDeleteGreat comments and I will add your blog to my blogroll as I had no idea it existed. I tasted some great Spatburgunder on this trip. Schnaittman, Heger, Fischer (part of Heger) and Fritz Wassmer. I'l be back and rocking' sooner or later. Taking a two week wine hiatus from Monday . . .so Monday March 10th I'll be blogging about wine and my recent adventures and misadventures in Europe.
Sorry to hear about your trip--it's clear from your Feb. 8 post how much you were looking forward to it. I visited Burgundy once and was received cordially, but I know that France can be a downer for some. I wonder whether the fact that the world is clamoring for their latest vintages may have had anything to do with how you were treated? As you can see, lots of people miss your voice and wish you a speedy "recovery."
ReplyDeleteYea France is a downer. Love the wines and like when they are over here and I have the "home field advantage." Germany is where it is at for me. Hopefully I will be journeying there in August for a comprehensive trip.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah got like 300 pages of Quixote left and am loving it but it is long as shit!
ReplyDeleteDude, get back on that pony and riiiide!
ReplyDeleteWe miss your wit and revelations!
- Adam
It breaks my heart that France broke yours, but I understand. I had an awful experience on my last trip, myself. I think the charms of France, as is sometimes even the case with the wines, can take a while to reveal themselves, and to worm their way into your mind. I look forward to fresh writing from you whenever you feel up to it, but you shouldn't write just because you feel like you owe it to people. My paltry advice would be to grab a simple, humble French wine that you know you love, and let it speak to you, outside of any bad associations from your most recent trip. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteSorry to read about your trip. The French are sometimes a bit different to the rest of the world, citizens from the U.S. and Spaniards included.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have managed to work out 95% of the situations involving French winemakers quite well. My first trip to France was back in 2001 when I did not spoke a word of French and yet I managed to find two vignerons, one of whom spoke perfect English while the other spoked Spanish. And this was in the Loire.
Burgundy is a bit different because they are very small vignerons on the one hand and because they could sell two or three times their production on the second hand. So they do not really need to make an effort to sell the wine or learn other languages to better sell their production.
However, I stayed in Beaune for two days and a half two weeks ago and from the 6 visits I made, one of them (a negociant export manager) spoked excellent Spanish and perfect English. The others spoke some English.
But we communicated in French because I feel that if I am visiting a country that I love, it is me who should make the effort to communicate with them, and not the contrary. I started studying French three years ago because it really improves the joy of my trips to this country. It is not impossible, is great for self-realization and... it pays.
IMHO, expecting that all the world speaks english for when we decide to visit them is probably not the best idea specially for countries like France, where they have a great pride for they culture. If they see you making an effort, they will be very kind to you. If they feel that you consider that they should speak English... they will close themselves. (Think of it, what would you think of me if I started writing comments in this blog in Spanish expecting you to understand and reply to me?).
I also feel that you were probably too ambitious and too direct: 14 visits in 3 days is way too much. Four visits a day is probably a maximum and this only if you are willing to taste at 9am. That's no problem for some people, and is a big no-no for others. Besides, it is not only for the wines to taste. It is because you do not want to be stressed thinking you are late in your current visit and have to run pursuing the next.
Also, I think you suffered a bit of cultural shock asking what you thought was a normal question and resulted on a too direct inquirie for your host. I am also too direct sometimes and have learnt (with bad experiences like yours) to behave in a less inquisitive way when visiting domaines in France.
Ok, after re-reading what I have written, I feel it could be perceived as I am scolding you, when I just want to offer my past experiences so that someone can use the information to have the best of a trip to France.
Best from Spain.
Pisto,
ReplyDeleteGreat post and understood. To let you know the French part of the trip was organized by someone else. I prefer two to three visits a day. 7 is too much for me and I will not include myself in such nonsense anymore....
No scold and great info.