By Greg Bolton (Originally appeared in the April/May, 2005 issue of CityBites Magazine)
Geddy Lee leads me down a spiral staircase to the wine cellar located under his kitchen. With a heavy wooden door and stone threshold, it looks like a cellar should. I follow him in and scan dozens of well-ordered verticals housing wines, mostly red, from the Rhone, Bordeaux and especially Burgundy. “I’m a real Burgundy nut,” he offers enthusiastically. In my head, a battle begins: on one hand, fond memories of subtle, earthy pinot noir; on the other, the blood-curdling fear that I’ll knock something over. But the room is spacious and tidy; the mood, relaxed.
By any standard, it’s an impressive cellar, but as it turns out, it’s not the main attraction. As we leave, he pauses. “I built this one thinking it was bigger than I’d ever need, but…” His voice trails off as he chuckles sheepishly and walks me down the hall. Arriving at another door – identical to the first -- he extracts a key from his pocket and flips a light-switch to reveal a collection more extensive and refined than you’d find in most top-end restaurants. I emit a low whistle. “I’ve gotten a bit out of control,” he admits.
In the late ‘70’s, while other hard rock musicians demolished suites and Smirnoff with equal abandon, Lee, touring with his band, Rush, established his more subdued habit. “At a certain point,” Lee explains over a mug of coffee in his living room, “we were on the road all the time, and it was quite common for us to receive gifts from promoters.” Guitarist Alex Lifeson, Lee’s band-mate and lifelong friend, was by that time an avid wine collector, so when promoters came asking if anything was needed backstage, Lee says, “we would ask for wine.” Before long, Lee and Lifeson made wine appreciation part of their touring ritual; hunting for restaurants and wine stores became a way to explore new cities. Touring became tourism.
A self-described obsessive, Lee resisted serious wine collecting for many years, fearing it might distract from other commitments – “like my other obsessive hobbies,” he chuckles – but about 15 years ago, he became intrigued by the more obscure wines in his collection, at that time about a hundred bottles. He hit the books, researching specific vintages and broadening his general knowledge. “You cannot read about wine for too long without getting thirsty,” he notes with a grin. “So I started tasting these wines and cracking these bottles that had been sitting in my cellar for all these years. And I just got hooked.”
He estimates that his current collection – the size of which he’s “too embarrassed to admit” -- is 90% French, rounded out with German and Northern Italian selections. “And of course, champagne,” he adds. Given the sheer size of his collection, I wonder aloud how he keeps track of which wines have peaked and are ready to drink. “All in my head,” he says. “I used to keep an inventory on my computer, but I never used it.”
On his own or with his family, Lee takes regular trips to France and Italy, and participates regularly in wine events across North America and abroad, sharing bottles with wine luminaries like Jancis Robinson, Michael Broadbent and Hugh Johnson. Lee considers himself “fortunate” to be invited to such events, but the reputation he enjoys for his palate suggests he’s not out of place there: recently, he was asked to join the expert panel assembled by wine guru Mark Oldman for his award-winning and highly approachable guide, Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine.
By: Greg Bolton (Originally appeared in the April/May, 2005 issue of CityBites Magazine and used here with permission of both the author and CityBites Magazine)