RAMPS

LAST SPRING I DISCOVERED A PATCH OF WILD RAMPS IN THE WOODS BEHIND MY HOUSE. THIS WAS AFTER FORAGING LARGE QUANTITIES OF RAMPS DISCOVERED GROWING IN THE LOW LYING AREAS BETWEEN THE RARITAN CANAL AND THE RARITAN RIVER IN CENTRAL JERSEY. SOON AFTER THAT DISCOVERY I HAD ALSO FOUND A RAMP COATED HILLSIDE IN A PARK THREE MILES EAST OF SCHOOLEY'S MOUNTAIN. BUT TO FIND THEM ON MY OWN PROPERTY WAS SUPREMELY SATISFYING. I HAD NEVER HAD RAMPS BEFORE BUT I WAS FAMILIAR WITH THEIR REPUTATION AND HAVE NOTICED THEM BEGINNING TO APPEAR ON SOME MENUS AND IN THE OCCASSIONAL CULINARY WRITING.

I COOKED WITH MY BACKYARD RAMPS A COUPLE TIMES LAST SPRING AND ONCE WITH SOME MORELS ALSO FORAGED ON THE PROPERTY. IF THE MOREL CROP THIS YEAR IS MORE LIKE WHAT IT WAS IN YEARS PRIOR TO LAST, THEN I'M JUST GONNA HAVE TO GET DOWN. THE COMPATABILITY OF RAMPS AND MORELS IS SPECTACULAR. I FIND GREAT MEANING IN THEIR SEASONAL PROXIMITY AND SHARED CULINARY POWER.

IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO FURTHER DWELL ON THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PLEASURES OF GROWING FOOD VERSUS FORAGING FOR FOOD. THEY ARE BOTH SUPREMELY SATISFYING ACTIVITIES BUT SOME OF THE HUMANISTIC IMPLICATIONS WOULD OBVIOUSLY DIFFER. AS IN ALL THINGS HUMAN, I ASSUME THAT IT COMES DOWN TO ART.

THIS WINE SMELLS OF BARNYARD

AND I LOVE THAT FUNK. WHEN I FIRST EXPERIENCED THE 2004 ECHEVERRIA CABERNET I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THAT IT COMES FROM CHILE. NOT THAT I HAVEN'T HAD MANY A FINE CHILEAN RED, AND NOT THAT I CAN CLAIM TO BE AN AUTHORITY ON CHILEAN WINES, BUT STYLISTICALLY IT WOULD SEEM TO BE AN ANOMALY. AS A GENERAL RULE, NEW WORLD WINES DISPLAY MORE FRUIT CHARACTER THAN CHARACTER OF THE EARTH. GRADUALLY I AM MORE CERTAIN THAT IT IS WINES DISPLAYING AN OVERT EARTHINESS THAT APPEAL MOST TO MY AESTHETIC CORE. I CAN RECOGNIZE AND APPRECIATE THE CRAFT BEHIND FRUIT DRIVEN WINES BUT RARELY AM I INSPIRED BY THEM. FOR ME THIS PLAYS ITSELF OUT MUCH THE SAME WAY THAT VISUAL ART, OR EVEN MUSIC, IS SOMETIMES EXPERIENCED. TECHNICAL CONTENT IS APPEALING ONLY TO A CERTAIN DEGREE -- EVEN TO THE LEVEL OF AMAZEMENT -- BUT TECHNICAL CONTENT ALONE CANNOT CREATE FOR A SUBLIME EXPERIENCE. HOWEVER, BEING A PERSON WHO BELIEVES IN BELIEF, I TRUST THAT THOSE WHO FIND THEMSELVES PARTIAL TO FRUIT DRIVEN WINES FIND THEMSELVES WITH THAT UNFORTUNATE PREFERENCE BECAUSE WITH FRUIT DRIVEN WINES THEY HAVE HAD THOSE PRECIOUS FEW MOMENTS OF SUBLIME WINE EXPERIENCE THAT CAUSE THEM TO BELIEVE DEEPLY THAT WINE HAS SOUL. SO I BELIEVE IN THE TRUTH INHERANT TO THE SUBJECTIVITY OF THAT EXPERIENCE AND MAYBE SOMEDAY I WILL HAVE A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE WITHIN THE FRUIT DRIVEN END OF THE SPECTRUM, BUT FOR NOW MY RECIEVERS DO NOT TUNE TO THAT FREQUENCY.

REGARDLESS OF THE DEPTH OF THE WINEMAKING TRADITION IN A PLACE FROM WHICH A WINE COMES, THE ARTFORM WILL ALWAYS INCLUDE AN ELEMENT OF SCIENCE; i.e. THE TECHNICAL ELEMENT. SIMILARLY INTRINSIC IS THE PRESENCE OF THE EARTH IN ANY WINE, REGARDLESS OF THE LEVEL OF TECHNICAL INVOLVEMENT IN ITS PRODUCTION. BE IT FRUIT DRIVEN OR EARTH DRIVEN, ANY EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL ARTWORK IN A BOTTLE IS GOING TO BE A PRODUCT OF WELL BALANCED COMBINATIONS OF INDETERMINATE MEASURES OF CONTROL (SCIENCE) AND CHAOS (NATURE).

WINE -- AS FINE AN INTERSECTION OF ART AND AGRICULTURE AS THERE EVER WAS. IT'S GOOD TO BE HUMAN.

BTW: DISCOVERED THE 2004 ECHEVERRIA AT BLUERIBBON RESTAURANT IN SOHO. THANKS TO THE BARTENDER THERE FOR ALL OF HIS WINE AND FOOD SUGGESTIONS. RIDICULOUS MENU. WWW.BLUERIBBONRESTAURANTS.COM