Last year, I had the opportunity to visit Harrison once again at her home in Southwest Portland. This charming house, shared with her husband Michael and their two teenagers, exudes warmth and character. As a graphic designer specializing in wine labels (including Harrison’s own), Michael is a soft-spoken presence. The house itself is filled with an inviting atmosphere, adorned with plants, a record player, and framed drawings created by their children. Amidst the beauty, being in Harrison’s presence is both exhilarating and challenging. Her quickness and impeccable taste occasionally clash with her desire to be generous and easygoing, leading to moments where she seems conflicted, like a radio between two stations. I’ve never witnessed her completely at ease, which is a state that Harrison would likely consider wasteful and disappointing.
During my visit, Harrison and I sat down for a personal blending session. Our plan was to combine 10 barrel samples of her pinot noir. We settled on this number for the sake of efficiency, although it proved to be quite overwhelming for me. Each sample possessed its own distinct taste and aroma, but after blending just five of them, I found myself befuddled. I couldn’t determine the appropriate percentage of each wine to include in the blend, and the result seemed to simultaneously improve and worsen. Eventually, my palate grew fatigued, making it difficult to discern subtle differences. Within just ninety minutes, I lost confidence in my ability to perceive anything beyond a desperate need for water. Conversely, Harrison appeared at ease and completely in control.
Harrison attributes her remarkable ability to mentally map numerous flavors at once to her synesthesia. Although the causes of this condition are still not fully understood, studies suggest that synesthetes may possess an enhanced creative capacity due to increased connectivity in the cerebral cortex. Many renowned individuals, such as Nikola Tesla, David Hockney, Duke Ellington, and Frank Ocean, have reported having this unique gift. In his memoir “Speak, Memory,” Nabokov recounts the discovery of his synesthesia while playing with alphabet blocks alongside his mother: “We discovered that some of her letters had the same tint as mine.”
Like Nabokov, Harrison experiences grapheme-color synesthesia, which associates letters and numbers with colors. Interestingly, this synesthetic experience proves exceptionally beneficial in her line of work. As Harrison samples the bottled wines, her mind transforms each number into a vibrant color, transforming the wines before her into a palette of rich hues. These umber, orange, and Prussian blue tones are blended into a final composition that aims for “emotional transparency” and a delicate balance between intensity and levity. Harrison’s synesthesia allows her to hold this abundance of sensory data as a palette of colors, embracing it within the realm of the senses without the need for translation into language.
The meticulous blending process I witnessed sets Harrison apart from many other winemakers. However, it also draws ire from some individuals. Her approach violates a fundamental principle of winemaking: terroir. Derived from the French word for “sense of place,” terroir encompasses all the factors influencing a vineyard, including soil composition, climate, elevation, and surrounding flora and fauna. In the wine world, terroir has become a philosophy. Instead of being a creator pursuing an individual vision, the ideal winemaker acts as a steward of the land, allowing the wines to express the nuances of their unique terroirs through conscientious, hands-off methods. This philosophy’s prominence fluctuates over time. As consumer demand grew in the 1980s and 1990s for intensely fruity and high-alcohol wines, known as “fruit bombs,” terroir became a rallying cry for those seeking more complexity and subtlety in their wine choices.
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