Thursday, February 8, 2018



Ah! Fresh French fragrance flowing fruitfully freely in the air...
I was always a big fan of whiskeys, from blender to single malts, until I crossed the border of Calais and went down to Val de Loire. Those days spoiling myself with homemade wine made me having second thoughts about the water of life also known as whisky. Whisky is a personal thing, it is you and you, a necessary solitude sometimes. Wine is romance, it is you with someone else.The reason why it took me so long to find that love for wine is that I've only tried the cheap ones. But, in Val de Loire I discovered a whole new world of poetry, passion and beauty. I remember this man who ran a vineyards in the country that we found by chance while driving through the fields of mid-France. I honked few times and by the time he came to open the gate for us we've been roasting in the french summer and I was thirsty and curious to try some white wine. He came quite frantically and agitated wearing very simple clothing, a bit dirty and smelly, sweating a lot, he shook my hands with a strong greeting, speaking very loud, with the strongest accent you can expect a french to have without sounding like they are taking the piss on us, or spitting on our face. French people are proud of their accent, we know that, but they are also proud of their wine. This man starts pointing and asking me which ones I wanted to try and I thought to myself "all of them", he then pours some on a glass, swirl it in order to get some oxygen and drinks it in front of me! Before swallow he gargles and then with a very pensive face for few seconds he shouts "verry good". I go next and tried it and we repeat this over and over. The man talks briefly about the wines, he is there to drink it and then share with his customers, but most of all he is selling his passion, a product that he believes has only one purpose, to make people happier. That afternoon we visited some vineyards mostly white wines, muscadet and I felt quite drunk due too much sun and too much wine. But that afternoon made me realized one thing that I will carry for the rest of my life, that wine is something that is there for one reason and that people should just like anything in life look for something, for life without seeking something is meaningless.

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