Within the borders of Wine’s Metaphysical Country is a complexity of filigree and trellis; a latticework of weft and skein and weave; a many-tendril’d meshwork made of crossroad laid on crossroad, linked to crossroad.
Art meets science here
as the past crosses the future over there.
Tradition and experiment
triangulate and complement.
Data mining spreadsheets,
fingers spread, dirty nails,
the work of fingers, work of hands;
a braid of histories.
Instinct greeting training; dessucating;
pre- and post-industrial entwined.
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Here is Paul Draper, and here is Dan Barber.
Here is Pre-Industrial Winemaking, and here is Farm-to-Table.
Here is Ridge Vineyards, and here is Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
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And here is Charles Puglia.
Charles Puglia, Wine Director, Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Facebook.com/CharlesPuglia
Twitter.com/CharlesPuglia
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As when Paul Draper came to Monte Bello, as when Dan Barber came to Blue Hill, philosophy met land in the palm of a hand.
…an excitement that bespeaks
our shared lineage, the ancient
mammalian rite of recognition;
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In Charles Puglia, we have an embodied ligature connecting The Ridge and The Hill.
Charles Puglia is the Wine Director at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and he is coming to Ridge Vineyards.
The Ridge and The Hill.
As Michael Torino said:
“With the concept of Blue Hill at Stone Barns being a true farm-to-table restaurant, focusing on growing and raising the best possible ingredients, and not so much cooking but handling the product properly, and not using t0o many ingredients in a dish, they may be one of the best fits for Ridge I can think of. Their viewpoint really mirrors our pre-industrial winemaking philosophy, and our decision to include ingredients on our labels.”
This line, I love: Not so much cooking, but handling …
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About Charles Puglia
Charles Puglia has been a professional sommelier for the last 8 years. He currently works as the Wine Director at the highly acclaimed Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant in Pocantico Hills, New York. Charles manages all aspects of the beverage program for the restaurant.
Throughout his career, Charles has managed his own beverage programs as well as worked under the guidance of important professionals in the field, many of which have become mentors to him. Prior to working at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Charles held positions that include sommelier at Jean Georges Restaurant in New York City, assistant wine director at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York, wine director at Palomino restaurant in Greenwich, CT, and sommelier at Gaia restaurant, also located in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Charles began his career as a sommelier with a simple interest in wine. He began learning through self-education. After spending some time in the field he decided to begin formal education. Charles received his advanced certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust in 2009. He is currently a student of the Court of Master Sommeliers and recently earned his advanced sommelier certificate in August of 2011.
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Charles is the real deal. Authentic, serious, and devotional. And he has a very kind face.
Charles is joining us for #RidgeSomms.
I find this to be so philosophically resonant, so metaphysically relevant, so metaphorically appropriate.
The Blue Hill at Stone Barns Wine List is 46 pages long. On page 26 there are 6 vintages of 90′s era Monte Bello.
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In “Each Moment Is the Universe: Zen And The Way Of Being Time,” Dainin Katagiri says:
According to Dogen, everything that exists is time, so you are time. Dogen uses the phrase “the time has come” to say that time arises from conditions and appears as particular beings. Does that mean that everything appears by chance? No, in Buddhism “the time has come” is known as interdependent co-origination, or conditioned origination.
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For Ridge Vineyards, for Blue Hill at Stone Barns, for Charles Puglia, the time has come.
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The Time Has Come.
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And with that, we invite you to join Charles Puglia, Michael Torino, and all the other luminaries that make up the cast of #RidgeSomms, for an extraordinary two days of all things Ridge, and wine, and food, and Ridge!
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What:
Ridge Vineyards Sommelier Symposium, 2013
When:
May 20th & 21st, 2013
Where:
Just filter for #RidgeSomms, and you’re IN!
