Good Grape Wine Company

May 17 2007

St. Vini:  The Invisible Artist Amongst Us?

On a plane ride back from the West Coast this past week I read an article in the New Yorker that piqued my interest. 

There was an article on a shadowy graffiti artist who goes by the nom de plume of “Banksy” who is making waves internationally with his brand of street art that combines a touch of whimsy, subversive delivery in medium and a heaping pour of social commentary—like calling out the elephant in the room.  In fact, through his art, he does call out the elephant in the room quite literally as the below picture indicates.

You can see other examples of his art (my titles, not the artists) at the below links

* Bucolic Graffiti

* Water Lillies

* Cleaning Up

Does the wine blogosphere have a “Banksy” in its midst—somebody that can cut sharply and incisively, while remaining refreshingly detached from the broad evisceration that causes conversation?

Perhaps, so.

Remember when you were a kid and you would come bounding home, skipping steps in a single leap, bolting through the backdoor excited and exclaiming to your mother with the bold innocence that only a 12 year can muster, ‘We had so much fun.  We were at the pool and we had a diving contest …” 

And, then, like a record scratching, your Mom stops you in mid-sentence and says, “Were you at the Simpson’s pool?  You can’t dive there that’s only 6 feet deep.  You could have broken your neck …”

Damn. 

Maybe she’s right. 

It was still fun.

And, so it is with the anonymous and deadly deadpan social wine ironist in our midst … St. Vini from The Zinquisition, one of the very first wine blogs I started reading and something of an inspiration, as well.

By way of background, his anonymous blog comes from an insider—probably somewhere in Napa or Sonoma—that is very in tune with the issues of the day in the wine industry.  You can tell by his writing that he is in a position of authority, based on his authority of opinion.  My personal guess is that he is probably somewhere between 44-48 years old, has 20 years in the industry and while not completely cynical, Vini is world-weary enough to cut to the chase, quickly.

And cut to the chase he does, as I went on, and on, and on about Crushpad wine in a recent post. St. Vini cuts me down to size with a simple, subversive posted comment.

The comment goes:

“Today’s Tom Sawyer,
He gets high on you,
And the space he invades
He gets by on you….”

V

Damn, if he’s not right.  My first thought was, “How nice, he’s quoting Steve Miller Band.”  No Midwestern kid since the late 80’s has gone through high school without having a Steve Miller phase.  Then, I quickly re-oriented, thought for a second and sloughed off the actual reference to the song “Tom Sawyer” by Rush.

Getty Lee’s voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me, even if the reference is apt.

For my age bracket, Dave Matthews is a little more my speed, something like:

I cant believe that we would lie in graves
Wondering if we had spent our living days well
I cant believe that we would lie in graves
Wondering what we might of been
I cant believe that we would lie in graves
Wondering if we had spent our living days well

Wine blogging needs more St. Vini’s—people that call a spade a spade and cut through the morass of romance that frequently invades the wine industry; people that call out the elephant in the room, Banksy style.

Me, personally?  Perhaps I’ll get that world-weariness in twenty years, but for now I’ll keep eyes wide open and still marvel at Crushpad Wine and the absolute ingenuity in getting people to be a part of the nuts and bolts of winemaking for, yes, $32 a bottle.

Damn.

Maybe he’s right.

It was still fun.

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