A Case for Waiting

Written By Emma Salvestrin

In a world where our attention spans are shortening and our insatiable craving for immediacy dictates the lengths we’ll go to for instant pleasure, how many of us are still willing to wait? For something good? For something great? For anything, really.

People love to talk about how fast life moves these days. It’s trendy (and tired) to point out that we’re all glued to our phones and primed for the next hit of dopamine at any moment—but unfortunately, that doesn’t make it untrue. We do live in an age of insatiable craving for immediacy.

Which begs the question: if this is where we are now, how long before the pendulum swings back to delayed gratification as a virtue? As true luxury?

A few weeks ago, my dear friend Tash asked me, “Would you consider yourself a what’s the rush or why wait kind of person?” The question struck me. I paused, sat with it, and eventually said, “What’s the rush... I think.” I suppose the long pause made my answer fairly obvious.

I thought of the ways in my life I earn this what’s the rush type-of-person badge I’d just bestowed upon myself and remembered the small wine collection I’ve been growing now that I’m old enough to appreciate it. For a moment, I felt justified.

But then I began recounting all the moments—like when friends stop by for a nightcap and you’ve run out of your “drink nows,” and the 2020 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac your sister gave you to commemorate your first Wine Spectator New York Wine Experience is suddenly staring back at you from the wine cabinet—where what’s the rush is more of a meditation, a concerted effort between mind, body, and spirit to resist. the. urge. Less of a guiding philosophy than an exception I’m conveniently citing as a rule.

Hannah, if you’re reading this—no, I didn’t open it. Yet.

Either way, I maintain that patience—in all its forms—deserves reward. And luckily for all of us, wine rewards restraint.

This morning brought a beautiful reminder of the reward in waiting: Lisa Perrotti-Brown published her latest reviews of our library vintages—some going back nearly 30 years. Her words were generous, evocative, and full of the same thoughtful energy we’ve always hoped these wines would inspire when the time finally came to open them.

“Rich, spicy, and seductive... A wine with a real skip in its step... Jam-packed with black fruit layers and mineral accents...”

These are just some of the phrases used to describe what the years have imparted.

So, if you’ve been holding onto one of these vintages—whether with ease or with painful awareness of time passing (like me with my budding wine collection)—let Lisa’s words be your sign. The wait is over, and finally, the time is right.

And of course, for all you why waiters out there, we’ve saved some bottles on your behalf for this very moment. If you're curious about what time has shaped, we’ve made a small selection of these library wines available in our online store.

But no rush,

Emma Salvestrin, 4th Generation

Emma Salvestrin
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The Luxury of ‘23