Gwendolyn Elliott

>>>>> Featured image: The stave wall at Dillon Cellars. <<<<<

Back when I was digital editor at Seattle magazine, I worked with a colleague who I often overheard on the phone interviewing sources for his stories. (The chatter of writers and editors simultaneously making calls and speaking on the phone is common in newsrooms and magazine offices. Before Seattle mag, when I was at Seattle Weekly, I’ll never forget interviewing Jeff Bridges (about his country band, The Abiders) in full earshot of the bullpen, and having our film critic quietly slide me a Post-It note with a last-minute question, then trying to weave it in without losing my rhythm, while shielding off intense stares coming from the interns and my fellow writers just desks away). It got cozy and often, chaotic, in that type of setting. And it could drive me crazy, but man, do I miss it.)

(*Inserting obligatory plea to subscribe to your local newspaper here*)

Anyway, my former colleague used to encourage his sources to open up to him by saying, “We sell no wine before its time!” which could mean anything from, “we’ll publish only once we know all the facts are true and accurate,” to hinting that he had information—but craftily wouldn’t say what—which could motivate his source to share more. It was a brilliant use of the expression, and it always made me smile when he would work it in.

Of course, there are the vintage Paul Masson commercials (some more notorious than others) featuring Orson Welles who helped popularize the saying, apparently attributed to the namesake winemaker. Not only are they are a delight to watch, it’s easy to think they may have helped Americans grasp a basic concept of wine—that of aging.

For this particular marketing campaign, the whole idea hinges on the use of the pronoun “it,” in this case, as a determiner regarding time (and thus, aging).

But my personal interpretation of the expression is “it’s time,” as in, no wine before it is time to have some. While I do consider the technical aspects of wine such as “vintage dating,” more often—much more often—I find myself thinking about when I’ll be having wine today, what the wine will be, and who I’ll be having it with!

My latest “Wine Is a Food Group” column looks at this, through the lens of a number of factors, among them, the global downturn in the wine market, and the wine-as-cultural-food initiative, Come Over October. Here’s a link to the story, and a PDF. I hope you’ll find many good reasons to “taste to togetherness” and gather with your friends and family over delicious wine this month—and for that matter, any time you can.

At the tasting room, people often ask me how long a bottle should age. Practically, there are things like acid, tannin, and oak that help a wine grow older with grace. More and more, however, as I contemplate time, I think less about a wine’s lifespan and more about my own. I am starting to think concepts like “practical” and “technical” are better left in the capable hands of winemakers.

So, when I am asked this, like my former colleague, I have a ready motto. It is another, much more famous, expression on the topic of time and aging: Life is short. Drink what you want, when you want—especially if fun, goodwill, and lifelong memories are likely to be the immediate result.

In other news, I have started a part-time job at Dillon Cellars on the Southside to help supplement my meager returns as a writer (you can still find me occasionally at Pursued by Bear, too). Come and see me and try the wines and we can talk about why wine matters—here, there, and everywhere.

Speaking of places further afield, I was pleased to see my latest piece for UK-based Decanter, “Can fine wine embrace plant-based cuisine?” go live last month (PDF here). Again, I take up the subject of the wine establishment’s blind spot when it comes to food pairings, and find perspective talking to wine and culinary experts offering elevated experiences in this area. I hope you’ll give it a read.

In February, I’ll be co-hosting a workshop called “Better Eating for You and the Planet” with my friends at the Sustainable Living Center and will send more details once they are firmed up. You can bet that I’ll address the subject of plant-based food and wine pairings in regards to our agricultural and wine-based community, and how to plan great ones (and I’m grateful I’m known well enough to producers at the Center that I didn’t even need to ask to include the topic).

Looking ahead, I have another “Wine Is a Food Group” column this month, and more wine “reviews” (more like, attempts at poetic musings; I am not a critic) coming out in the next issue of Blood of Gods. I have more to say about the format and utility of traditional wine reviews, which I’ll be exploring in the future.

In the meantime, I’ll be plugging along at Visit Walla Walla and it goes without saying—having wine when it’s time.

I wish the same for you, and a happy Come Over October, too!