Mere Experience

Wine & Memory

[I know other bloggers and wine and food writers have touched on this topic before, but I’d like to add my two cents to the discussion. ]

I may not remember the detailed taste of my favorite wines, but I always remember them. I remember loving them. I remember who I was with and what we were doing. I remember some quality that haunted me from the tasting. Like the first Chablis I had—I remember it’s sort of piercing crisp minerality that made me want a lot more. It’s like the Pansa Blanca Jason and I had the other day—the first time I made scallops, and the silly TV show we watched as we finished off the bottle. The Malbec I had at my second tasting at Sip stuck in my mind as the epitome of that grape. The 2001 Graziano Zinfandel, and the 2003 Oliver Zinfandel as two ends of a lovely Zin-licious spectrum. I’m sure I’ve had lots of other great wines, but certain ones really stand out as something that I wouldn’t mind repeating. The wine stands as a very specific manifestation of a time a place, and visceral, sensuous experience. Tasty. This is why I am on the hunt constantly, everyone needs more experience.