* LIVE DEEP *

“I wished to live deliberately .... and ... LIVE DEEP”

24 May, 2024

Do you sometimes feel stuck? 🤔  Like you're not "suck[ing] out all the marrow of life" (to quote Thoreau*)?

Stupid question!! Of course you do ... we all do - from time to time. 😉 But those are the moments to "choose life" (to borrow another's words, this time from the pen of Irvine Welsh in his book and later the film, Trainspotting**).

As I sit here (on a plane, actually - see photo), contemplating another year around the sun 🤯 and all the challenge that it brings, I’m reminded of all the things there are to enjoy. No surprise that one of those things, for me at least, is a glass of wine made by a passionate winemaker. 🍷

Why do we find so many 'wine professionals' becoming poetical in their enthusiasm to wax lyrical about a seemingly simple beverage? Because we all start of simply enjoying the taste and then slowly but surely get bitten by the 'wine bug' - which means we can't help thinking about all the effort that goes into a bottle of wine. The people it takes to create something special. The time it takes. The patience involved. We all come to be in awe of winemakers, who show resilience despite the often harsh reality of ‘mother nature' in all her glory.

This isn’t some simple, predictable drink that anyone can make. When we speak about ‘fine wine’ we’re talking about something that someone really believed in and cared about - whether that’s a grape that no-one thought was worth saving, or a location that others said wouldn’t work.

Or maybe it just means a vine and later a wine that someone really wants to share with others. What’s better than enjoying a sip of something that another person genuinely wants to share with YOU? That's what it's all about, at the end of the day. Sharing wonderful experiences with somone. And that's one of the wonderful things about WINE. It's made to share... it's made to enjoy with others!!

I’m so grateful to my journey, so far, into the wonderful (and confusing, and sometimes overwhelming) world of wine.

I hope you’ll enjoy another year around the sun with me, sharing my passion for the bottles I find along the way :-)

Looking for a current example of a wine I love … and would wish to open with you right now? The ZERO INFINITO pet nat by cult winemakers Pojer e Sandri.

Do a search for their winery and you’ll come across Mario Pojer (aka Mario Bros lookalike - sharing his passion for winemaking (and grappa making, and opening a bottle of wine with hot tongs) or his biz partner Fiorentino Sandri (aka the Dolomite’s Einstein) and you’ll also see the incredible range of wine they make - from varietals like Chardonnay or Riesling, to the local Nosiola grape, as well as a delicious Burgundian Pinot and a Bordeaux-blend called Rosso Faye (known amongst our long-time wine guests as ‘The Bunny’). But they are also a special winery for me because every time I visit them I feel so welcome and I get caught up in all the excitement behind every new adventure - whether its the new tasting space they've recently created to host wine lovers, or the new wine projects they're developing!! They remind me why I love this 'business'. Because it's not only about great wine - it's also about great people. Wildly passionate people, who loving sharing their excitement of wine with others. Pojer e Sandri and your entire family (especially the charming Federico) and the whole extended winemaking 'family' - I salute you! Better still, I toast you ... from 40,000 feet. 🥂

Why do I love their ZERO INFINITO? First up, because the wine is delicious. It’s cloudy (ancestral method keeps the lees, so you can decant for a clear drink or shake it up for something unusual and textured) and the slightly tart character makes it super quaffable and a perfect aperitif. Second, because it’s an example of heart over head. An easy sell in the Dolomite mountain vineyards of Trentino would be a well-known white grape with classic ‘reductive’ winemaking to create a fresh product recognisable by all. What they went for here was a rare (and weird) grape - the PiWi cross-breed Solaris - made with unusual winemaking techniques, resulting in a strange and wonderful wine that is as confusing for first-time drinkers as it is exciting for those of us who get to pour it and watch their faces as they go from skeptical to smiling!! 😋

Not a lot of bottles left in SG (which I plan to correct asap) but enough to grab a bottle during my Birthday Weekend Promo - details below.

That’s all for now, from the skies…. Over and out! 😉

* one of my favourite quotes of all time (from 'Walden; or Life in the Woods' by mid-19th century, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau) and beautifully quoted by the late great Robin Williams in the movie Dead Poet's Society ... here's more of this lovely prose: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life". 🥳

** more from Mr Welsh? He encourages us to "make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible” - HEAR, HEAR!! 🥰

Order online during my Birthday Promo to enjoy a 15% discount STOREWIDE. Just use the code TOAST2024 (a toast to my year around the sun) at the checkout page!! Promo ends midnight on Sunday (26 May)!