There is a Season...

drawing by Edel Rodriquez for the WSJ





"Turn! Turn! Turn!", by the Byrds is a poignant song for me that always turns up a mix of emotions. Leaving behind the past and looking forward to the future; but not losing sight of all of the good, the bad, and inevitably the sometimes very ugly memories. The famous lyrics ring true for many occasions. "To everything, turn, turn. There is a season, turn, turn.....a time to mourn, a time to dance." Well, after 25 years we are mourning and dancing about the end of an era for World Class Wines, the small, boutique wine distribution company my step father started out of the back of his car as a hobby long ago. Yesterday, that name was transferred into the hands of another much larger company that will hopefully honor the tradition, relationships, and love of wine that this small company was founded upon.


So last night we clinked our glasses with some special wine, in honor of this occasion. The 1999 Chateau Talbot was beautiful and the 2002 Ducru Beaucaillou exquisite. Not fancy first growths, but rather a second and a fourth growth from Saint-Julien. And not a fancy meal to pair with these bottles, just a simple pork tenderloin prepared by Mr. World Class Wines himself, and a rather short meal (compared to others that seemed to linger around our table for hours as the process of this sale trudged through the months)to follow. But the toast was symbolic- part joy, part relief, lots of reminiscing about the past and honoring the people that worked for this sweet company, and even more wondering what the future might hold. The toast was almost tentative, but final in it's subdued "clink". Not your typical boisterous, elbow backing up to bring in the glass with a hearty "Skol" type of cheers, but a delicate, almost quiet, slow "cheers". No exclamation. Just a period. And a sigh...