Veritas , livre ebook

VERITAS

VERITAS

JIMMY HAYES

Foreword by Rajat Parr

Afterword by Fred Lyon

Book design by Iain R. Morris

CAMERON + COMPANY

Petaluma, California
For Dina, Jimmy and my Father

Para los hombres y las mujeres que trabajan tan duro,

Bajo las luces y los rayos del sol . . .

Campeones de las vi as.
CONTENTS

Foreword by Rajat Parr

6

Introduction by Jimmy Hayes

10

GALLERY

12

Afterword by Fred Lyon

236

Index of Photographs

238

Biography

246

Acknowledgments

246

Colophon

248
6

FOREWORD
7

Truth is the summit of being. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

A

vineyard is defined by much more than

pastoral beauty. That which we cannot see is

as fundamental, if not more so, to the vines

path as what our eyes take in. The underlying

soil is the reservoir of life that connects vines

to one another and to us. A vineyard s story begins when

it is planted. Then we wait for cues, subtle and loud, from

Mother Nature and adapt our knowledge of farming based

on the cycle of life. Most of these things are not seen by the

naked eye but are felt while we are connected to the vine.

Pruning is the first human touch, and picking is the last. Next

comes the complexities of winemaking, and, finally, drinking

the wine. The journey from planting to finishing the bottle is

the story of wine. And that s the story Jimmy captures here

with rare acuity and insight.

I met Jimmy Hayes in 2006 at a wine event in San

Francisco. He came across as a quiet, humble sommelier with

an encyclopedic mind for wine, attributes I regard with the

utmost respect. Jimmy s keenness and drive really stood out

to me as I got to know him better through his years working

with the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, and later with the

iconic Araujo and Mayacamas estates in Napa Valley.

Jimmy started his career in photography as a hobby,

aiming his lens at vines, wines, and the world they inhabit.

Of course, it s no surprise, given his background and locale,

that he would gravitate toward this. But it s remarkable

that such a sharp wine taster, a sommelier who had

learned so much information about the vine, would turn

his attention to capturing truths about wine through the

visual medium . . . an uncommon path. Through his work,

he uncovers things most people do not see.

Despite the palpitating, bucolic look of vineyards in the

photos we see on brochures and websites, on the ground,

vines grow in a gritty and unglamorous manner. So much

about wine growing and winemaking is unseen. How do

we determine the truth? Is it really the soil or the genetic

material used? Or is it just modern technology? These

questions will forever be the mystery behind how one sees

wine. This book is not afraid to explore this mystery. In fact,

it actively provokes us to confront that real, if unromantic,

side of wine growing as much as it washes us in beauty.

But that s what makes this book so special. It illuminates

beauty in every aspect of wine growing, and in so doing,

reaches the very heart of the complex thing that is wine-

the topography, the soil, the vine, the sun, the seasons, the

people and their culture, and time.

Great wine, however, is a product of detail, and Jimmy

Hayes, if nothing else, is a poet of detail. With his camera he

records the small things, the bits, the glances, the grains of

process, the interior spaces, and the rhythms that ultimately

separate good from ordinary. No other wine photographer

in my experience, has ventured so far into this largely

unobserved space. But that s obviously the point here.

You may find that many of the photos here are somewhat

dark in cast, but have no doubt, Jimmy knows light for all he

is worth. Dipping into the art of chiaroscuro to communicate

meaning and emotion, the images cut against the grain

of hackneyed wine photography-a brilliant stroke. Of

course, vines need light-lots of it-and California is one of

the most sun-drenched wine regions on the planet, so the

deliberateness of this presentation speaks volumes. There is

no such thing as dark; it is only the absence of light. And by

holding on to this light and dispensing it parsimoniously in

only such amounts as is necessary, Veritas presents images

as rigorously restrained, gloriously delineated, and dense

with meaning as the greatest of wines-for in this case,

restraint has its own compelling beauty and the absence of

light an unrelenting truth.

- Rajat Parr

10

INTRODUCTION
11

T

o work with wine is to work hard-with one s

whole body, mind, and heart. It is science,

agriculture, art, and business, all blended

together. At every level the work requires great

skill and preparation, for confounding turns await

around every corner. There are no magic bullets, no secret

recipes . . . there are only small details well considered, and

those brave souls with enough patience, vision, and grit to

manage them properly. And, there is luck. . . both good and

bad. There is no other field quite like it.

There are so many people to know . . . great mentors

and eager students making old ways new again, inspiring

each other. Icons and bootstrappers, both-doing the same

thing differently, beautifully, and in entirely personal ways.

They make their wines in palaces and in garages, covered

in precious mold or scrubbed impossibly clean, all trying to

create something meaningful. There is no one right way.

For all, there is much at stake. Every day, hopeful makers

and farmers meticulously control what they can, knowing full

well that in the end they are powerless-their livelihoods

laid squarely in the hands of Mother Nature, the one who

decides all fates. They share the ever-present truth, that

even with perfection, failure may still follow . . . it s the

snapping, crispy, electricity of risk. Is the sun shining, or is

the frost taking hold?

Wine brings joy, and spills and stains . . . and joy . . .

This uncertainty is the equalizer, a humanity that connects

all people who work in wine. Whether they labor in the field,

drag hoses in the cellar, obsess over blends, or sign all the

checks, they share the knowledge that success is never

guaranteed, even if they ve done their small part well. Yet

they work hard, and they do so much, and they care-all for

the promise of great wine.

So rarely are we shown these truths. Skyscraper

marketing departments fill glossy pages with manufactured

images of the sensational . . . impossible sunsets, swarming

hot-air balloons, and the happiest glass-clinkers in saturated

moments of buzzy, ros perfection. They show us the images

that make us feel good, not the images that make us feel .

The stories and stewards of wine deserve more-models in

magazines don t make wine taste great, vineyard workers,

cellar hands, and winemakers do. They should be the ones

clinking glasses . . . but the work is hard, and there is little

time for sipping in the sun.

It s the desire to crack through this veneer that inspires

me as I photograph wine-to see beyond the golden hour

and share more about the real places and people that make

great wines come to be.

Veritas is a quiet exploration of these details, as seen

throughout California s various wine regions. The visual

language deliberately eschews the exaggerated beauty so

often center stage in wine media, instead settling on a blend

of structural, minimal, and poignant vignettes of the actually

real. The photographs included in this collection show the

commitment and care of farmworkers, the tenacity and cool

confidence of winemakers, and the serene perfection of the

vineyard sites-all as they are, not as they could be.

Images for this book were sourced from an ongoing

body of work that began in 2014. Like the scenes they

chronicle, the pictures are real -found, not made. Nothing

included has been lit or staged. They are presented in no

particular order-as slices of life-and largely show simple,

unremarkable moments that happen every grape-growing

and winemaking season. They are the rudiments of the

process . . . routine, yet entirely essential.

Without these moments, wine does not exist; but still,

it s a story less told. It s an honor to be allowed to tell it-

truthfully-and more importantly, to share it with the world.

- Jimmy Hayes
GALLERY

15
16
17

21
22

26
27

30
31
32
33
34