Sean Thackrey, Anti- "Terroirist"
After years of reading (and drinking) the amusing and always informative wine lists created by Paul Grieco (the sommelier’s sommelier), I have come to learn that when Paul puts together a tasting, it behooves one to attend. Thus, when it was announced that cult winemaker Sean Thackrey would be making his first New York City appearance in a decade at Terroir Wine Bar, I had to be there.
It was not surprising when Paul introduced Sean Thackrey—charming, articulate and completely idiosyncratic—with the amusing caveat that Mr. Thackrey does not produce “cult wines”; instead, he is a “cult wine-maker”. I was however, shocked when Mr. Grieco, a passionate “terroirist” who believes deeply and passionately in terroir’s importance to the quality, understanding and enjoyment of wine, went on to explain that his guest, Mr. Thackrey, vehemently detests the notion of terroir. In fact, the controversial winemaker has been known to compare terroir to overpriced real estate and dog poo. Why invite a philosophical arch-nemesis into one’s temple to wine’s sense of place? Because opinions aside, the man makes really interesting, really unique wines.
Entirely self-taught, Sean Thackrey is perhaps the most well-read winemaker in the United States and perhaps the planet, when it comes to the history of winemaking. Fluent in ancient Greek and Latin (not to mention five other languages), the vast majority of the books Thackrey has devoured in the pursuit of historical traditions, ideas and inspiration were not written in English, or even in this century. Yet they are filled with fascinating advice on how to properly handle wine.
A centuries-old French sommelier’s guide for example, recommends that if you care anything at all about the quality of your wine, the last thing you will ever do is age it in French Oak—instead, German Oak is highly praised.
Passionate about the unrecognized value such tomes could offer to today’s modern winemaker, Thackrey tirelessly translates each text to himself, and hopes someday to offer English translations of these ancient texts on his website, The Thackery Library: An Archaeology of Pleasures.
“For me, using old texts gives you a background for how rich and complex winemaking is. I mean, people have been making wine since 10,000 B.C.—it would be nice to know how they did it.”
An art dealer by training, Sean fell in love with wine in the mid-70s, when he purchased his self-described “rural slum” in Bolenas, and decided to plant grapevines along his fence. He created his first wine in 1979 from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes he purchased from Stags Leap Vineyards, and from there began purchasing grapes from growers in Napa Valley, Marin County and Mendocino. The highly experimental “Pleiades” was one of Thackrey’s first commercial bottlings. Made from up to seven different grape varieties (both white and red), the recipe changes every year, depending on the mood of the winemaker and the fruit from his growers. “It disobeys all of the rules of the wine world, and I love it,” says Thackrey. “It’s whatever I want to put in there.”
Thackrey names all of his wines after constellations. “I don’t know why I name them this way—I think a constellation looks like a cluster of grapes, but nobody in the U.S. has heard of these constellations, so I’m going to call my next wine “Big Dipper”, so that way people will understand.” Today, with production at 5,000 cases per year, Mr. Thackrey compares his role as a winemaker to that of a chef.
“I am a craftsman—I try to produce something that is really delicious…it’s just got to be something that I really want to drink. It’s like a chef in that way. If you like their style, then you’re going to like their food. If you like my style, then you’re going to like my wine. I try to buy the best produce, and I try to make wines that are pure pleasure”.
Mr. Thackrey is infamous for flouting traditional winemaking methods and for breaking many, if not most of the accepted rules for harvesting, fermentation and aging. He compares oenology courses to food science courses and asks how either result in a better winemaker or chef. “The absence of defects are not the presence of virtues,” he likes to say.
While Mr. Thackrey’s competitors in Mendocino & Napa Valley harvest their grapes before dawn, rushing them to the winery where they are immediately pressed to obtain the freshest juice possible, Mr. Thackerey takes a medieval approach, allowing his just-harvested grapes to rest anywhere from 24 hours to 3 days before pressing them. And that’s just the beginning of this cult winemaker’s topsy-turvy approach to creating wines that are big, high alcohol, roughly tannic, and full of intense flavors. The results may be sipped and savored in-person or through special order at New York’s venerable Sherry-Lehmann. According to Matt Wong, the General Manager, “That guy is way out there—but I like him, and his wines.”
A documentary about Sean’s work is currently in post-production and scheduled for release in late 2009 or 2010.
The Review: A Constellation of Wines by Sean Thackrey by Jacqueline Lombard.
Photo: ‘Terroirist’ Paul Grieco with nemesis Sean Thackrey at the Terroir Wine Bar, April 22nd, 2009
Credit: Jacqueline Lombard
