And he reads Robert B Parker

Friday night at my house is pizza and pinot--Navarro 2007 and a friend over for my daughter to hang out with while they watch the new Disney movie on dvd. Yes, it is not yet out. Yes, we have a copy.

Anyway, I could write a lot about Navarro. I've been a member of their wine club for a while now as I find it hard to find their wines at stores. I also can not recommend highly enough their non- alcoholic grape juices, both for kids and for those who abstain. They were a favorite during my pregnancy.

Anyway, this post is really about Terry Theise. As I have mentioned on twitter, we are publishing his book in the fall. I'm hoping that some of you are familiar with Terry and his work. Terry is a wine importer, one of those jobs that seems like a fantasy to many. Terry's list is mainly Austrian and German. On Thursday, his local distributors hosted a tasting for him at Fort Mason. As I admitted to Terry, I don't drink as much German and Austrian wine as I did when I first started drinking wine. Part of that is regional, the store that I shopped at in MD had a great selection and knowledgeable staff. The other part is that these wines can be hard without guidance. The names and regions are confusing. Will a wine be dry or sweet? It can be bewildering.

I'm not proud of my confusion and actually, it is a pity. As I tasted the wines last week, I realized once again how food friendly and honestly lovely they are. And, with more knowledge I probably enjoy them more than I did at 19. Terry said to me that one of the joys of many of his wines is that they are enjoyable both at the beginning and end of a wine drinker's lifetime. They are accessible, yet full of complexity for those who seek it. I will admit though to cheating, I tasted a few I knew I would like and then had Terry pick for me.

Terry's manifesto is simple and clear:

• Beauty is more important than impact.
• Harmony is more important than intensity.
• The whole of any wine must always be more than the sum of its parts.
• Distinctiveness is more important than conventional prettiness.
• Soul is more important than anything, and soul is expressed as a trinity of family, soil, and artisanality.

Tyler Colman's post last week: http://www.drvino.com/2010/01/22/terry-theise-riesling-grower-champagne-2009/ provides an interview with Terry. Read it.

I just ordered an assortment of Terry's wine from Debbie Zachareas at Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant so I look forward to having time to learn more at home.