So Good, It’ll Make You Weep

How often do we encounter this in our lives and do you question it when the feeling sweeps over you? “Hmmm, must not have gotten enough sleep last night,” or “Are my hormones out of whack?” I know that I have had some genuine moments that cannot be attributed to these reasons. Music, when just the right chords or pitches are struck has the ability to bring me to tears. My kids have given me many proud parent moments where the moisture in my eyes wells up with uncontrollable smiling. They also have the ability to bring me to my knees. Thinking about my family and those who have departed brings the mixed kind of tears; wonderful memories with pangs of loss.

My thoughts are on this topic because of remembering another one of Terry Thiese’ passages that has been seared in my memory and is a driving factor in seeking worthwhile and memorable wines. In his first chapter of Reading Between the Wines Thiese states that, “In a wine lover’s early days, he’s usually (and usefully) an obsessive note-taker.” He goes on to say, “The greatest wines are the ones you can’t write notes about because you’re weeping, overcome with their loveliness. This happened to me in a restaurant in Paris one evening; the waiter must have thought my wife had just told me she didn’t love me anymore and was absconding with the plumber. Nah, it was just the damned Jurançon.” Not only do I now want to experience Jurançon wine, but also hope to find other wines that will bring me to this level of experience.

There is one more thing that brings me to joyful tears when I think about it and that is Bristol Bay and its miraculous salmon run. I must confess that the tears are not only joyful; they are partly due to the threat of the proposed Pebble Mine and the impact that its development would have on the land, water and people who partake in the renewable resources of this region. Many good people are working on finding permanent solutions to keep this threat at bay permanently. Permanent protection for the Bristol Bay watershed, the nursery for the world’s last great wild salmon run would bring most welcome tears.

To learn more about this important issue visit www.SaveBristolBay.org

Mel