Over on Grape Collective I hand-picked 10 YouTube videos about wine for your viewing pleasure. Here are my thoughts on the clip that gets things started, “The Wine Magician”:
The first thing you’ll notice about this video is Victor Watel (aka Panteros666) talking about esoteric winemaking, cosmic rhythms, and obscure druidic methods. Or maybe his blue hair, mustache, and crazy pants. (Check out his music.) “The Wine Magician” is a video of Watel’s visit to Coulée de Serrant in Savennieres to speak with legendary biodynamic winemaker Nicolas Joly. There’s also some background on Rudolf Steiner, who, it is noted, had “…always been the weird kid in the neighborhood, having visions of his dead aunt at age nine and stuff.” (The English narration by the native Frenchman Watel is a hodge-podge of curious informality and profanity. Steiner’s “cool-ass church”, etc.) The duo have an oddly endearing chemistry, too:
Watel: “Are industrial grapes, like, in jail?”
Joly: “The industrial vineyard doesn’t have the right to talk, it can only stay silent and obey. It’s slavery.”
I also love the scene where Joly instructs Watel, a wine-tasting neophyte, on what he should expect to find in his glass.
For the other nine plus commentary on each selection, head over to Grape Collective.
