MAYA: Why are you so into Pinot? (Miles laughing) It’s like a thing with you.
MILES: Um … I don’t know. It’s a hard grape to grow, as you know, right? It’s thin skinned, tempermental, ripens early … ya know, it’s not a survivor like Cabernet that can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it’s neglected. No Pinot needs constant care and attention and it can only grow in these really specific and tucked away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only someone who really takes the time to understand Pinot’s potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. And then its flavor … awwww … is just one the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and ancient on the planet. Cabernets can be powerful and exalting too, but they seem prosaic to me for some reason by comparison. What about you?
MAYA: What about me?
MILES: I don’t know … why are you into wine?
MAYA: I think I … I originally got into wine through my ex-husband. He had a big, show off cellar ya know. But then I discovered that I had a really sharp palate and the more I drank the more I liked what it made me think about.
MILES: Like what?
MAYA: Like what a fraud he was. (Miles laughing) I like to think about the life of wine. How it’s a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing--how the sun was shining, if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve. Like if I open a bottle of wine today, it would taste different than if I opened it on ANY other day … because a bottle of wine is actually alive … and constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is until it peaks, like your ‘61, and then it begins its steady and inevitable decline … and it tastes so fucking good.
