Over the last few months I have had the opportunity to befriend a man named Terry Robards. During Terry’s career, he was an influential wine writer and critic, for among many, The New York Times, The New York Post, Bon Apetite and The Wine Spectator. Today, Terry runs a wine store in Lake Placid, NY and continues to write on a smaller scale.
Over the previous few months I have had the opportunity to taste with Terry on quite a few occasions. During these tastings, Terry shared some wonderful stories with us about his experiences covering major events as a journalist, from breaking RFK’s assassination to visits to storied chateaus deep in the heart of Burgundy. When Terry shares all activity in the room grinds to a halt, attention focuses in on him and his slow but poignant recounts of buried memories begin. Last night as we sat down around food and the wines of the Rhone Valley it really hit me what I was a part of.
Terry wrote about wine during what was one of the most transformative times in wine, the 1970’s and 1980’s. Many people see the history of wine as running much further back into time, which is true, but the history of modern quality wine struggles to go beyond the 1950’s. Exceptions include a few regions such as Burgundy and Bordeaux. During Terry’s years as a columnist the world of wine was evolving into the modern wine world we see today. It was a time of flux, where many of the modern methods of quality wine production that are the norm today, were being experimented with by today’s iconic producers such as Giacosa in Piedmont, Don Ditter in Australia, and Jim Barrett in Napa Valley. Terry, like these producers was pioneering his way through the world of wine journalism just as wine in America was coming on the radar.
Like all good things in life, getting Terry to share these experiences takes some work. He has a fairly stoic and steady personality most of the time, but I have found that the combination of 3 basic ingredients brings him to life. These three elements actually work well on all of us. They are good wine, good food and good common minded people. When these three come together I believe it brings up true feelings of sharing and reflection, which creates a truly magical atmosphere of creativity. As Terry dips deep into his bank of memories, we are all enriched by his unique experiences. Listening to Terry gives a real glimpse back into time, when wine in America was not what it is today, a time when it was a wild and unexplored frontier for most Americans.
In my recent travels to Piedmont, Italy, the iconic home of Barolo and Barbaresco, I notice more and more of my peers ( im 27) take very prominent center stage roles in their family wineries, if not full control. They are adding their own ideas to years of wisdom collected by their parents. As the generation that pioneered modern Barolo and Barbaresco is stepping into the background the next generation is leaping into the future. This parallels my experiences with Terry. His life has been full of invaluable experiences that give him a great reserve of wisdom, just as the last generation of Piedmont winemakers worked lifetimes for. Now a younger generation is continuing forward in their own way, but rooted in the past of those who came before.
I have been very blessed to meet Terry this year for this reason. Wine, like life, is about forward progress through generations, making tomorrow better through the wisdom of yesterday. Someday I hope I can pass on what I have learned to an eager young man or woman with their own ideas of excellence in the world of wine,
I didn’t want to share Terry’s stories here, but I invite you to get to know the great man that is Terry Robards, stop in at his store and say hello, or drop me a message and enjoy a glass of wine with Terry and other like minded people at the next Adirondack Wine Institute event!
