A Layman Exploring Wine 12

by William Powell

She likes it, and that’s that! I’ve tried it, and the wine is no revelation (at least not for me), but it’s okay. Perhaps I should also mention that, for my mom, the Bocksbeutel bottle itself is often the decisive mark of quality. 

What’s inside usually plays only a minor role. The point, though, is that she has a favourite wine, and I apparently can’t manage that. Sure, I could now confidently beat my chest and claim that I’m simply always looking for a new taste and that there are too many fish in the pond ... 

The Dry Cough and the Cat

The truth is that beating my chest gives me a dry cough, and when it comes to wine, I apparently have the attention span of an eight-week-old kitten. At the moment, for example, I’m really taken with “Tante Tilli” from Ute Weinmann. It’s a lovely white wine blend from Rheinhessen. And the reason I’m so hooked on it right now is that Ute Weinmann warmly recommended it to me. 

And because it tastes good. But to find out which wine I liked better than all the others last summer, I actually had to ask a friend. Only then did I remember that it was “Saugut” from Jürgen Fendt. Forgetting that name alone is an art in itself—but I had forgotten the entire wine. When I drank it again recently, I immediately knew why I liked it. 

Knowledge for Know-It-Alls

And I also remembered that the aforementioned friend had recommended the wine to me. Which is a stroke of luck in itself, because on the rare occasions when I “discover” wines myself, I can never find them again afterwards. Which also means I could never recommend them to anyone. Yet—as a former professional know-it-all—I have a soft spot for knowledge you can share with others. The term “Final Recess of the Imperial Deputation” lodged itself so firmly in my brain back in seventh grade that I never forgot it. I probably know every character in The Lord of the Rings who is mentioned more than once, and I know that a pig’s climax can last up to 30 minutes. Why? 

Bavarian Beer Styles

Because things like that are wonderful for showing off. You could do that with wine too—if you had something resembling a memory for wine. Which, surprisingly, I apparently never developed. Could it really have something to do with my Bavarian introduction to beer in my earliest youth? The differences between Export, Pils, Hefeweizen, Kristallweizen, strong beer, Alt, Kölsch, Bock and Märzen are crystal clear to me, and ale, Guinness and lager pose no problems for my memory either. Even though I don’t find even half the beer styles listed appealing. 

Oenology at School

But I can’t store a white wine that I considered a lucky find just eight months ago, and that goes by the name of “Saugut”, on my internal hard drive? Crazy! What does that say about me? Perhaps my brain is already too full, and I started taking an interest in wine too late. I should have had oenology instead of history in seventh grade. Perhaps I’m also still too insecure subconsciously and don’t allow myself to remember the wines I like, because—since I don’t actually know anything about wine—the wines that happen to taste good to me obviously can’t be good enough. 

Tasting Beats Knowing

I should have become a psychoanalyst. Or perhaps it’s as my wife says: I simply haven’t found the right one for me yet. I just have to keep tasting diligently and patiently.
I think that’s what I’ll do!