How Does Wine Speak to You?
When I prepare for a wine trip, event, or other experience, I ask myself, “What do I want to learn from this? What should I listen for? What might I share on my blog?” My pre-experience mindset balances two countering approaches: 1. Loosely plan a vision and purpose and 2. Keep an open mind about what I might discover.
Post-experience, I zoom in on a single question: “What spoke to me?” I reflect on what moved me, what I’m excited to share with you, and what made me fall in love with wine all over again. I merge my original vision and knowledge of a place or topic with my newfound inspiration to create a short vision statement to guide blog posts, social media posts, and other communications.
As I’m getting ready to travel to the Kamptal region of Austria in a few weeks, these thoughts are top-of-mind. In this month’s post, before I leave, I’m sharing some of the ways that wine speaks to me. This is my framework. Next month after I return, I’ll share my impressions and insights on Austria and its wines. How will they speak to me? We will see!
Connection
Once you look past the most obvious reason to like wine (ahem, alcohol), stories rise to the top. People and places make wine, and behind each of them, there’s a story. Through these stories, wine lovers build connections. Connections to the farmers, the producers, the cellar workers, the grapes, the soils, the excellent vintages, and the difficult vintages. What are the special connection points of a wine, region, or producer?
Curiosity
Given the number of wine grapes, regions, producers, and methodologies, there’s always something new to discover about wine! If you’re curious, you will never get bored of everything that wine has to offer you. Whether its an obscure grape, an emerging wine region, or a unique production technique, what is there to discover?
Culture
Like the stories and connections of wine, there are also rich cultures in every wine region. In the “Old World”, there are centuries of food, art, architecture, history, norms, and customs that interplay with wine. What are the differentiating elements of these well-established wine cultures?
In contrast, the “New World” is full of possibility, innovation, and experimentation—untethered by precedent and oftentimes unrestrained by restrictive wine laws. How are these new wine cultures emerging and evolving?
Consciousness
Given the agricultural nature of wine, environmental consciousness can’t be separated from it, especially as the realities of climate change intensify. Increasingly, historic fires, floods, hail, frost, and other acts of nature damage vineyards and alter the wine industry. When visiting a region or drinking a new wine, what is that region, producer, or association doing to decrease the impacts of climate change?
Creativity
Wine unlocks creativity, and it isn’t just the alcohol talking. There’s so much to explore, read, learn, visit, and taste! Does a region, wine, or producer spark creativity? What is inspiring about it? What speaks to you?
Photography credit: Dominique Murray
