The essence of my journey in wine is to discover what wine means to me. To some, it represents a commodity as a means for profit, whether to teach it or to sell it. I have come across both. There are also some who write about it and their palate seem to be so trust-worthy. I have come across them too. The best known in the wine world, some believed.
I have tasted hundreds of wine I believed, studied and got certified yet I am still unsure what to do with it. I supposed I admire some, who just enjoy drinking it, which I do too. And some who cellar it, hoping that the bottle will turn into a marvelous worth of time and effort. I aspire to do that too.
Another some, are people who work in the very production of wine. In the vineyard, they are the viticulturists, and the very skillful people who transform these precious fruits into joyful liquids, the winemakers. I have no exposure in this field of viticulture and vinification, and I always wonder how my life would differ should I live close enough to a wine region. In a vineyard, I imagine living the humble life as portrayed in some wine movies. Indeed, there is some magical goodness in wine that simply fills my heart with pure joy and pleasure. I have yet to find a wine that made me feel otherwise. Is there one?
I believe that if wine is a growing trend in this part of my world, I wonder what else is there to look forward to. I supposed teaching it, is one way or another I find, how I can associate with the retention of my wine knowledge as some said, through teaching you are retaining 95% of your knowledge. Is that true? Or just organize some wine dinners here and there as a means of escape to a pure fun-filled sharing of wine moments. I wonder, can a person live this life and maintaining it without a cost? I certainly find lots of potential in doing that.
Of course, there is also some who contribute and write freely about whatever they think of some wine they tasted. I find that rather personal and by a sheer power of the Internet capability, everyone can look or be made to look like a pro. I mean, isn’t it too easy to qualify to write about wine these days? Just like what I am doing now, disguising it in a form of blog?
If there is one more thing left for me to make my wine knowledge useful is to have more tasting sessions, simply discovering what the wine world has to offer today. Let’s not limit our imagination to the well-known labels or regions but do look elsewhere for new possibilities. When I visited Bhutan, a few years back, what stroke me was that, how come this place doesn’t produce its own wine? Well, it does now. And it's from grapes, not rice.
The endless possibilities is always a constant reminder that how much we do not know rather than how much we think we know. Salute!
