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Wine reflects life

Two things happened last week that were quite unlike but came together within a similar story.

The first item of interest is a book by Terry Theise titled “What Makes A Wine Worth Drinking?” It’s a very deep book wrapped around the author’s long experience in tasting, buying and marketing wines — especially, German wines. It’s the kind of book I could only read about 10 pages at a time — then I’d have to take a bit of time to think about what I’d just read.

Theise’s writing is a mixture of philosophy, street language and personal stories. There’s philosophy about the very nature of wine, using at times, street language that everyone understands which is buttressed by the myriad of stories about the women and men who make wine.

The book is utterly fascinating and, as I read it, my head kept nodding in agreement with many of the author’s thoughts and renderings about wine. What kept my head nodding were his statements about the many differences in wines but, yet, how they’re all the same. Dissimilarity in similarity?

Here comes some heavy philosophy: in wine, one experiences life.

How does that occur? Well, for me, when I taste a wine, it takes me somewhere. Maybe it’s an old city where I drank my first real wine. Perhaps it takes me to a celebration for a family member. Or, there’s always that peaceful moment when, upon tasting a wine, you let it talk to you and you rest.

The book came to mind as I attended the Cultures of the Prairie event at SMSU last week. No, there wasn’t any wine there — I’ll talk to the organizers about that! However, I saw life.

The event was organized by some very fine local people and nicely facilitated. It was good to see some old friends there and to catch up and laugh. The program was to allow us to hear a diversity of voices — people from around the country and the world — and the opportunities and challenges of living in our state. As the program unfolded, I began to “hear” Theise’s voice.

In the very differences in wines, one can find the likenesses of life. In the very differences of the event’s attendees, one could find the likenesses of life.

No matter where a wine originates or the grape variety, it’s still wine. Yes, the various wines will reflect differences of acidity, sweetness and tannins. Some will be fruity, others will be stony and some will be smooth.

For instance, a bottle of Blue Vin Riesling from the Reinhessen region in Germany will provide a nice light body along with a big fruity sweetness. It’s telling you something about where it was grown and made — a hard region known as the land of a thousand hills. From those hills, comes a light tasting sweet wine that is like a Liebfraumilch — elegant and pleasant.

One of the speakers at the culture event was a woman teacher from Mexico. As she told her story about her hardships while growing up, nobody moved in the room. Nobody. Then, her sweetness and goodness opened up as she showed us her eighth grade students and told us how much she adored them. People smiled and, I expect, a couple of tears were shed.

A young man told the assembly about his growing up in a neighborhood filled with kids who were not as brown as he is. He didn’t see a problem — others did — until he showed them a sporting skill all the other kids wanted and, then, he was accepted.

Similarly, a Malbec from Argentina can be hard to understand — at first. Gascon Malbec from the country’s Mendoza region can be a problem — at first. When given a chance, the wine opens up with a deep red/brown color, followed by a plumy dark cherry smooth and long lasting taste. If you play with it, you’ll learn how good it is.

Another young lady told a story about her hair and that reminded me of a bottle of Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The speaker had a terrific dry wit and told her story with meaningful humor — just like the Cantina Zaccagnini wine which is red, dry and refreshing. The wine and the young speaker would be a perfect match.

So what does this prove?

Within each wine, there’s a story of heartbreak, humor, hardness and softness. The author, Theise, is right and I agree with his words. In wine, there’s life and it’s all good.

Within each person, there’s a story of heartbreak, humor, hardness and softness. It doesn’t make any difference where you come from, we’re all the same. In us,, there’s life and it’s all good.

As always, eat and drink in moderation but laugh with reckless abandon!

Cheers!

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