Remember your First Sip of a Fine Wine?
If you told the old me that I would have a discerning taste bud for fine wines, I would have looked at you none the wiser.
Wine was like the religion I didn’t care to understand. I didn’t know it, did not want to know it and I was content to view it from far; take shallow sips while I sat on the fence about its virtue.
Sure, it was loved by many others. Some swore by its excellence, a quality I could not tangibly taste nor see. Others paid high prices for it while my heart silently mourned for their wallets.
I thought wine was the only alcohol that made me sleepy and for that I was happy to take the occasional sip at moments where I needed to unwind. For the ‘buzz’ I was far more enthusiastic to have a pint of foamy, ice-cold beer.
But all that changed when I was offered a glass of Burgundy.
I must note here that not all fine wine-lovers have an instant life-changing moment. As with all beginners whose taste palettes are immature to pick up the subtle taste notes, I would go so far as to say that most first-experiences of fine wines would be that of trying a cigarette for the first time:
You don’t quite get what the fuss is all about, but you try it again just to be sure.
But then again, not all fine wine-lovers are instantly sublimed to tasting from one of the most coveted producers. Most of us peg the wines we buy to where we are on the tasting learning curve. The better producers don’t come cheap, and as your taste profiles improve, only then are you more willing to spend on the ‘better stuff’.
And when you've reached the next rung of the wine ladder, the sophistication of your taste buds will now dismiss lower quality, one-dimensional taste profiles haughtily.
You start to crave complexities. It’s almost like a drug.
For myself, I was lucky to be introduced to a very fine glass of wine, and have my friend commentate the flavours and explain why it was a $200 bottle of wine.
While he did so, I held the juice in my mouth, swishing it about, in disbelief as I mentally ticked off the taste associations. It was as if they clicked and suddenly made sense: red berries, forest floor, prune, oak… the descriptions were so precise I would never have volunteered them if I were to try to recount it myself.
I uttered, “wow”. The only word I found apt. Or maybe my wine adjective palette was just starting its gears too.
My friend chuckled, and gave me this quote I’ll remember to this day:
A great Burgundy is like an attractive woman. She’s intelligent, sophisticated, sexy. She teases you and makes you want her. And when you've had her, you’ll not regret a single part of it.
He was spot on.
Burgundy wines are one of the most coveted and sought after wines in the world. Known for its terroirs and distinct village characters, Burgundy produces one of the most regal Grand Crus and Premier Crus in the world.
