Episode #032: Sean Christopher Weir

Photo by Kaori Funahashi

Author of The Mad Crush, about the 1995 zinfandel harvest

In 1995 a college student named Sean Christopher Weir joined the harvest at Saucelito Canyon Vineyards and worked on that year’s zinfandel. Bill Greenough, the owner and vintner was an interesting yet reticent man, one who had rediscovered the vineyard after it lay hidden and fallow for decades.

In a Proustian flashback after trying that 1995 vintage nearly 20 years later, Weir turned his memories in a new book, The Mad Crush, all about that magical year and Sean and Bill’s relationship. For anyone interested in how wine is made and the resolve it takes to slave away at it day after day, year after year, this is the book.

Chris (as he usually goes by) sat down with the podcast at the Wayfarer Hotel in the Funk Zone for this chat.

TOPIC DISCUSSED INCLUDE:
The origins of the writing of the book
His writing career vs his writing degree
Getting his writing muscles retrained
Growing up in “wine country” when it was just “country”
The magic of agriculture
Is there a “type” of winemaker?
The Mountain Drive scene in the ’60s
How vineyard living changed his “latitude”
His favorite wines (apart from Saucelito Canyon)
The pleasures and pitfalls of self-publishing