Saturday, July 10th, 2010
The Path To Wine Enlightenment
Follow The Three-Fold Path To Wine Enlightenment
Earlier this year I appointed myself a Master Sommelier. Since then, life has been easy-going for me. More often, now that I am a Master Sommelier, people ask me what I think of a wine. And I have learned that the best answer to that question is to ask a question in return, “What do you think of the wine?” I know what I think of a wine when I drink it. Being a Master Sommelier, simply by making a quick assessment of the people drinking wine around me, I can accurately predict what they will think of a wine as well. However, what good would it do my humble students to simply tell them what I think, see, hear, feel, sense, smell, taste, and enjoy in a particular wine? To fully understand and appreciate the amount of wisdom I possess, we must consider the Three-Fold Path to Wine Enlightenment.
1. To Know not to Know
First you must accept that you know absolutely nothing about wine. This conscious state of knowing that you know nothing can only come about through proper meditation. This meditation is not a formal meditation but a continuous meditation; an on-going process. When you are confronted with a wine, or an acknowledged “wine-connoisseur,” or a “winemaker,” or any person purporting to be in the wine business, or a selection of wines in a wine retail store or at auction, your first reaction must be: I know nothing about this wine. I am not even sure if it is red or white or rose. Any one of the aforementioned individuals will attempt to tell you about wine, may even suggest the color to you and where the wine hails from. When this happens you must stand your ground: I know nothing about this wine. I know nothing.
2. To Taste Only Beef Chili
When tasting a wine, knowing that you know nothing is only half the battle. Persons of wine-intrigue will press you for more information. They will say things like, “How much tannin is in the wine?” and “What are the grapes?” and “Where is this wine from?” and “How old is this wine, how long was it in the barrel?” and they will also say things like, “This wine smells of citrus,” or “This wine has hints of limestone and lavender,” and “I detect bret in this wine.” When this happens, the enlightened wino, or in my case as a Self-Appointed Master Sommelier, I will have this reaction: “I think your observations are interesting! However when I smell and taste this wine I perceive only this: Beef Chili.” You must stand your ground after making this statement, for many will attempt to cull your opinion. Also, it is important to note that when drinking a wine you feel is better than another wine, look for a positive quality in the poorer wine. “This poorer wine tastes and smells like a vegetarian beef chili.”
3. To Know Your Enemy
Once you have mastered the first two steps in the three-fold path to wine enlightenment the third and final step will either lead you to a higher state of being or lead you down the path to wine snobbery. This is a crucial moment where you must choose carefully the road not taken, or fall victim to the eternally repeating wine-club of the month routine. You must learn to know your enemy. You must scrutinize and question your enemy. You must think you know more than your enemy and you must distrust everything your enemy tells you. Your enemy is your teacher. Your teacher is wine. Once you distrust, despise, dislike, and are utterly discouraged with wine, you may then begin to know that you know nothing about wine, that all wines taste like beef chili, and that wine is your enemy and should anyone ask you to describe or talk about wine, a wine-region, a place to buy wine, a great wine for a special occasion, you will be able to respond in an enlightened way: “I don’t know. Whatever you think is best.”
The Three-Fold Path to Wine Enlightenment is a registered trademark and copyrighted educational tool created by Jonny Cigar, for Jonny Cigar’s use, please use at your own risk.
Tags: Enlightenment, Jonny Cigar, the path to wine enlightenment, the three-fold path, wine enlightenment
