When I first noticed wine, I was lost.

Innocently tasting my first ever Riesling, I had no idea what was in store for me. Oh, so this is what a wine tastes like…interesting. Upon further “research,” I noticed there were reds wines, white wines, sweet wines, dry wines and rosé wines. There were wines made from grapes I’d never encountered. What’s a blended wine? Why do wines tastes differently? Why are bottles in different shapes? The “whys” continued, and I learned to take things a small step at a time.

Thinking upon this subject, I go back to the days I was learning to play basketball. My learning began in elementary grade with my gym classes. We were taught to dribble the ball with our dominant hand, and then to try and do the same with our less dominant hand. In full transparency, I failed terribly with my left hand. Then we learned to pass the ball — accurately and sharply. That went OK, but I’ll always hear the gym teacher telling us that we learn something by taking small steps — patience is a virtue.

Small steps … I don’t know what it looks like in your neighborhood, but here we just had a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. That caused a lot of ice to form on streets and sidewalks — treacherous conditions for everyone. As I walk along the sidewalks — seeking areas clear of ice — I can hear my parental mentors telling me to take small steps. So far, so good…

The small steps of life can lead us to exciting and interesting discoveries, but one must be careful, too. There was a time when I was attending an event during which you could register to win certain prizes. I registered at the wine table, and won a bottle of wine. Lucky me! I noticed the vintage was rather old for this particular wine, and I opened the bottle with some trepidation.

The aroma was not what I expected — think mold — and the taste was like a shot of turpentine. The bottle was corked — the cork was bad and let in too much oxygen and it spoiled the wine. Lesson learned, and as I continue my stroll through the vineyard of vinology, I’ve learned to take little steps, and I learned to love wines.

I recently had the opportunity to taste a Prinonero 2021 Negroamaro wine, and was quite fascinated by it. This wine is fairly common in the Salento region of Italy, and its name is interesting. The aroma was lightly cherry and spicy. The taste was medium bodied with nice complexity of some cloves, black cherries and chocolate. The next time I see this wine in the wine aisle, I’ll take large steps to buy it!

In this new year, maybe we should think about doing small things well rather than trying to change in big ways. I was introduced to mindful meditation quite a number of years ago, and initially thought it was a pile of nonsense. I tried it once and it was okay. I left it alone for awhile but it kept bugging me to return. I did, and I’m pleased to have taken that little step into silence. It has opened my mind to the necessity for quietness in our lives, and I’ll walk that path as long as I can.

Excuse me while I have a sip of Dark Horse Pinot Noir. Nothing like the quiet cherry taste of this wine — enjoyable and reasonably priced. A win — win situation.

Thinking back to taking small steps, I can see myself helping to clean the pig barn during my early years on our family farm. I begin as a small lad, and was instructed to be very careful walking through the animal left behinds because, well, it can get messy and stinky. My father told me to take small scoop shovels of the left behinds, and to take small steps in it.

There’s a lot to learn in such an environment!

Wherever you are in your life’s journey, don’t be hesitant to take a few little steps into a new adventure. One never knows what you’ll find — maybe a new friend, a new author, or a new wine. Just be aware of the “left behinds” of life!