I have been planning this for months! Why the apprehension? Putting myself
out there to fail or succeed I am now completely exposed. That is a scary
thing. I wonder what Tom will think of my blog. Here goes nothing...
What would I be without a story? Simply another wine blog taking up
space on this vast new frontier. I guess I should start with a little bit about
myself. My name is
When I look out at the wine industry today, I have to say, I am saddened.
Gigantic conglomerates and greedy men now control a vast majority of our
domestic wine. They have three major publications they need to win over in
order to sell their wine and fatten their shareholders pockets. These
publications have unknowingly set up a system in which it becomes very easy to
pass off an imitation as a master piece.
Wine is art and like fine art in order to properly appreciate it you must
enjoy it relative to context. Without context it loses its beauty and meaning.
Imagine trying to appreciate and understand a Rembrandt or a Picasso if you are
only allowed to look at it for 15 seconds. Not understanding the painter, the
period, or the circumstances all you have is a glimpse. Now imagine looking at
200 pieces of art from different artist in a single day all that way. How could
you even begin to see the differences and similarities? You could not even
begin to comprehend the beauty behind what you saw.
All the while, you are jotting notes from what you can grasp in those few
moments reducing everything to a score. What if someone slipped in a fake?
Would you be able to tell? In that short time span would you miss the
important features that would tell you this is not a work of art, but simply a copy?
It would be impossible to tell; and what of the score? It is meaningless. Art
is subjective as is wine. What I taste you may not, what you taste I may
not. How can you reduce something to a number after spending 15 seconds with
it? How would I score your personality when we meet for the first time? First impressions
are most often awkward and horrible. It does not work with art. It does not
work with wine.
We need to learn to appreciate and understand wine. We need to fall in love with its beauty and mystery. Great wine is an ethereal experience. It gladdens the heart and brings us to a story of the land. It possesses personality, uniqueness, and beauty. How can grapes produce all these beautiful seamless flavors that have nothing to do with the grape itself? How does it enhance and bring out new flavors of itself and its partner when enjoyed with food? How can it change so dramatically and age so gracefully over time? It is the land, grapes, yeasts, and a storage vessel, that is all. Working to create something beautiful. Anything else becomes a fake.
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