Robert Lawrence Balzer, Character



From left, Robert Lawrence Balzer with fellow judges Ann Littlefield and Don Galleano, Long Beach Grand Cru, 2007

Robert Lawrence Balzer, an effusive and engaging wine writer for much of the 20th century, died this past weekend, half a year shy of his 100th birthday. What a soiree that would have been. I didn't know him well, but by what contact I did have I found him to be a rare embodiment of sensuality and intellect. Given his innate confidence, theatrics and grace, he might have been more at home in ancient Rome than in modern American culture, which could explain why he settled in Los Angeles after growing up in Iowa.

I'm not really surprised that his passing has gone largely unrecognized by writers of the wine blogosphere, with the notable exception of Cyril Penn's fine tribute at winebusiness.com, available here. As Penn notes, Balzer wrote a wine column for the Los Angeles Times for 32 years. Balzer wrote his first wine book about 70 years ago. His contributions to wine culture were monumental - he still was teaching wine-appreciation classes until just a year or so ago - but he was a member in good standing of a different era, when not everyone had a keyboard and the nerve to expound on what he tasted. What's more, he did his homework. He talked with grape growers and winemakers, and learned why a wine had this or that to say.

When I first sat on a judging panel with Robert Lawrence Balzer, I suspected that we'd have to make some allowances for him, not for his age but for his tendency for storytelling. He was colorful, precise and captivating, and when he got to talking of his time on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary, or about when he sold this or that bottle of wine to this or that Hollywood celebrity, you didn't want to interrupt him to point out that the next flight of wines was aging more than it should. No less an American icon than Will Rogers Jr. is said to have urged Balzer to start writing a wine column...in 1937.

I was seated with Balzer at the Long Beach Grand Cru in the summer of 2007. He was 95. I was struck by several things about Balzer. He tasted faster than the rest of us. He put off telling his many stories until the cocktail hour afterwards. He was uncanny in his ability to pinpoint just what appellation produced this or that wine, whether it be Santorini or Napa Valley, something we could confirm only later, after the coded results from the blind tasting were made available. He showed us the proper way to taste and evaluate a wine, which involves placing one hand over the top of the glass, swirling it a few times on the table, and then quickly releasing your hand and sticking your nose into the glass. And when we took a break, Robert Lawrence was the first up and out of his chair, charging for the exit, pulling a cigarette from his pack, ready to strike a light the moment he punched open the door and stepped outside. His agility and timing were a wonder to behold.

Robert Lawrence Balzer with fellow judge Ellen Landis

Such was Balzer's standing in the California wine community that when he celebrated his 90th birthday with a gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, actress Olivia DeHaviland flew in from her home in Paris to deliver a warm tribute, longtime wine writer Dan Berger recalls in his week's issue of his newsletter, Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences. Berger, a close friend of Balzer's for decades, recalled that Balzer, despite being surrounded by Hollywood money for much of his wine-selling and wine-writing career, was a champion of everyday wines. Early on, for one, he called E&J Gallo's Hearty Burgundy one of the nation's great wine values. When I last chatted with Balzer, he spoke warmly of the Franzia family and the quality of the bargain wines it was releasing under such brands as Charles Shaw ("Two Buck Chuck") and Salmon Creek. Of course, the Gallos and the Franzias long have been power brokers in the California wine trade, and Balzer was no dummy; he saw the benefits of cultivating the favor of movers and shakers.

While Balzer was most closely identified with Los Angeles, there's a Northern California angle to his story. As Penn notes, after World War II, during which Balzer was a pilot and flight instructor following graduation from Stanford University, he became a Buddhist and was ordained a teaching monk by a temple in Cambodia. His spiritual side drew him to Renaissance Vineyard & Winery at Oregon House in Yuba County, an offshoot of the Fellowship of Friends, a religious retreat and cultural center. He wrote favorably of the settlement's wines, and he'd planned to retire to the enclave, but changed his mind and stayed in Southern California for the rest of his life. If I remember correctly from our Long Beach chats four years ago, he had reservations about changes in the makeup of the community and about its isolation. He was one gregarious fellow, and perhaps a remote religious settlement might have been too tame for his tastes.

Balzer wrote and published 11 books. For years, he'd been working on his memoir. I hope he finished it, but I suspect he didn't. At Long Beach he said he'd written nearly 400 pages, and was up to only about 1940.