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I welcome you all to this issue
of Winoledge.
Essentially wines are catching
up in our country and so they should. When classical wine making nations
were the only significant wine producers, each of those countries would
prefer to hype their own product higher and "better" than their closest
rivals.
While wine as a product suffered
some unjust treatments and gathered undue applause, as a bi-product
something very fascinating happened. Viticulture (growing vines on
relatively large scale to make wines.) started spreading to newer
territories. For reasons ranging from imitation of continental culture to
immigration, research to feasibility studies, up came the idea in the
intrigued mind of many winemakers that climatic and topographic influence
could add a totally new dimension to the personality of any grape variety.
Large-scale experimentation lead
one after the other to many findings and as a result many wineries got
founded. The process is still on its way and countries like Australia, South
Africa, Chile , New Zealand, India etc started making wines and a few even
bettered (personal opinion) their European counterparts. Make no mistake
wines from France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and rest of the continent
are very much worth whatever has been said and written about them.
Europe has a very strong control
system to classify its wines and though every country has its own
appellation( a classified and recognised guarantee from the state authority
about the quality of wine) and classification , the superior wines in Europe
became extremely popular and their prices went through the roof.
Here stepped in the newer
cousin, it offered similar processing methods, unique soil and climatic
influences, enhanced personality due to change in microclimate, culture and
seasons, and all of a sudden the masses followed by the classes started
raving about it. Gradually the wine world evolved, its connsieurs evolved
too and varietal wines (wines classified on the basis of grape varieties)
from different regions were tasted against each other’s personality.
Remember no rights or wrongs, these were just attempts to create a common
platform. We all value the classics but never must we shy of giving a wine
it due worth. It is the sensation of taste one of the simplest treats of
life that counts more than the price tag as far as wines worth is concerned.
Remember wines are not held by ropes tied to a specific nation or cluster of
nations, wines are beyond boundaries, they are in their own class...beyond
compare. So treat wines with dignity and so shall it treat you.
I must also emphasise to you all
that wine drinking and raising toasts with wine are quintessentially the
hallmark of any celebration but at the same time we must be responsible
hosts. Wine contains alcohol and its consumption in inappropriate quantities
is harmful(interestingly the wine labels don’t say this in various
countries) at the same time I must say that the best way to know about wines
is
..................................................................................TO
DRINK IT!
Cheers and have a fantastic
month of MAY
Yogeesh |
