And Know the Wine for the First Time

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”

T.S Eliot

  

After twenty five years of enjoying wines, I ended where I started.  I distinctively remember walking into the 39^th and Cambie BCLDB Store and intuitively asking Steven, the product consultant at the time, if he would recommend an honest traditional Chianti.  That was twenty five years ago.  Steven took me down to the aisle and pointed the wine. 

I trusted Steven.  I remember buying six bottles and opening one on the same day.  The necks of bottles were all at different levels.  Years later, I would learn the wine was probably hand-bottled – a sure sign when the neck levels are different on young wines.  I opened a bottle and stuck in the refrigerator for a half hour before I had the wine with a simple meat pasta dish.  The bottle was all gone quickly.  Well, the remaining bottles were finished within the same week.  When I returned to the store to buy some more, the wine had sold out.  I wish I took some notes or a picture of the wine.  I simply cannot recall the wine.

After my initial years of enjoying wines in my terms, like the Chianti, I bought and read a bunch of wine publications.  Then, I started buying and drinking wines in someone else’s terms.  So, It seems, the truth about wine can only be discovered when I am only true to myself.  So, my exploration of wine has arrived where I started and know the truth of wine for the first time.