Teaching The Wine Guy a Lesson About Wine:

While wandering the internet seeing what I could find being said about wine on the blogosphere, I stumbled onto an English wine writer's website.  It had about 20 wine trivia quizes...boy do I love those things!  I proceeded to sit down and take all that he had.  Oh boy, was that ever a humbling experience!  I actually didn't do badly but there a LOT of stuff I had to guess at.   It was just a little overwhelming to discover that after years of reading, tasting, studying and even writing about wine, how much there was still yet to learn.  

The Wine Guy,
still learning and still in love with wine!

Actually, it got me to thinking and reminded me that that's one of the most wonderful things about wine.  No matter how devoted you become to wine, no matter how much you think you know, there is always...I say again, always...something new to learn and experience.   The converse is also true,  you don't have to know everything (it's impossible, anyway) and you don't have to be a superb authority on wine to enjoy all the wonders and nuances it has to offer.  You simply have to have operational olfactory glands and taste buds and some sense of curiosity about what's behind that cork and you are off on a marvelous journey of exploration, discovery and adventure.

When I was in retail management selling wine, I was often asked by customers to explain what "constitutes" a truly great wine.   I always paused significantly and said, in a quite serious tone:  " Well, as a devoted fan of wine, someone who has worked in the trade for a number of years and as a certified sommelier, let me just tell you that there's a simple definition and then there is the really technical definition of what constitutes a truly great wine.  Fortunately for you, I believe the two definitions are identical.  I define a truly great great wine as one I think tastes truly great to me.  I see no reason why, as a consumer of wine, you need bother with any other definition for yourself.  Just recognize that, as you try and explore wines, the wine that satisfies that definition will likely change many, many times over and in many different ways.  There are possibly thousands of truly great wines out there awaiting your own personal discovery.  Don't worry about whether or not not a wine you are currently enjoying matches someone else's definition of a truly great wine, just focus on the fact that you enjoy it.  What makes wine truly great, overall, is that there is a great wine made for just about any taste preference imaginable.  Such is the diversity of wine and such is the opportunity for you to go explore and discover.

It was good to get humbled by my quiz taking.  It reminded me that the never ending opportunity for exploring and learning about wine is the main reason I fell in love with it in the first place.  I think I'll go learn something new about wine today and then pour a glass of something I never had before and, hopefully, rekindle an old flame!

How about you?  Go discover a truly great wine of your own.  

Sainte!