David Chan: A concertmaster whose other passion is wine
International Herald Tribune Wed, 19 Nov 2008 7:23 AM PST
NEW YORK: For music and for wine, David Chan says, language has its limitations. He should know. Chan is a concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the position traditionally held by the leader of the violin section, and he is also a wine lover and Burgundy fanatic. He is a Harvard graduate who was named concertmaster in 2000, at the ripe old age of 27, and he sees a crucial similarity between his twin passions.

"Talking about wine is like talking about music," he told me over dinner recently at Bar Boulud, across Broadway from Lincoln Center. "If I could tell you in words, then there wouldn't be any point in playing it. A great piece of music, and a great wine, holds your attention and has more than you can say in words."

It's a piece of wisdom that seems obvious, especially when I find myself trying to describe the sensation of a wonderful 15-year-old Puligny-Montrachet with phrases like "sluicing a mouthful of pebbles." Yikes! I'm sure describing the effect of a telling passage of music is no easier.

Perhaps it's the necessity of embracing the nonverbal that so often binds music and wine. Chan says that almost any orchestra or group of musicians will include a significant minority who are involved in tasting groups or who gather regularly to have dinner and share wines. It was one such group that got him interested in wine in the first place.

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