Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, 1869: “Noted horse-tamer Professor D. Magner was introduced to a horse belonging to the Omnibus Company - a most vicious brute, with the habit of biting and striking with his forefeet, this large and powerful bay once killed a man by biting and trampling him and recently bit the hand almost off a person. In about twenty minutes Mr. Magner reduced this brute to perfect subjection - the former furious beast being as docile as a kitten.”
This sort of news item was more common when horses were crucial to our economy, but the “horse whisperer” is still around. Having spent years training horses and training people to train them, I can vouch for the existence of these types. They often make a living teaching their “system,” but the truth is, the secret is one you can’t teach: these people have a seemingly mystical ability to communicate with animals.
I thought of this when I hung out at Chateau de St. Cosme - the oldest domain in the Rhone Valley appellation of Gigondas - with owner/winemaker Louis Barruol. Vignerons for fourteen generations, Louis’ family has owned the property since 1490. They still use the stone fermentation vats carved out during the Roman occupation. The winery is part of an old stable-block and house, which has the kind of graceful, imposing façade that could be very grand with the help of about twelve groundskeepers. Now the lawn is wild and the courtyard full of Fisher-Price climbing toys. There’s no question a family lives here, and any spare money goes into wine, not hedge-trimming.
I’ve visited wineries ranging from grand estates to high-tech antiseptic laboratories to ramshackle garage operations. There are lots of variables, but the wines I like best all shared one crucial factor: a passionate grower/winemaker with an instinct, a special sense…a vine-whisperer, if you will. These guys are farmers, first. Each feels fervently that wine should taste of terroir, not of winemaking. It’s about understanding the personality of each acre, and coaxing out its best, most characteristic grapes. It’s about conserving the flavor of those grapes, not changing them.
While larger wineries have to focus on consistency – 12,000 cases that all taste the same – the smaller artisans can treat each batch the way you would a brood of children; you love them equally, but allow them to develop their own personalities.
Louis Barruol has the feel. His vines are not neatly trellised. But he knows exactly where each shoot is pruned and how much sunlight the leaf canopy lets in. He explains why grapes from the flatlands taste different from those from the calcareous hillside right next by. Deep in the stone caves of St. Cosme, he has me taste the difference from barrels. I fall for a deep purple Grenache; a mix of state-fair-candy-apple and bitter tobacco. Others smell earthy and explode with fruit, licorice and an impression of sweetness that has nothing to do with sugar.
He tells me about his frustration as a business manager. He recently hired a graduate of an excellent wine program. The young man was up on the latest science. He worked hard, listened and learned. The problem? He just didn’t have… “it.” He didn’t share Louis’ intuition about vines and grapes and most important, his taste was different. In fact, Louis wondered if when they put juice in their mouths they were even tasting the same thing. Besides, you have to motivate employees, encourage them, listen to them. Louis listens to vines.
Some people have the talent to manage other people. Some, like Professor Magner, have it with animals. And I’m thrilled to have met some who do magic with wine. All the book larnin’ in the world can’t teach that.
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