"And you, what's your favorite wine?" That's the question I was asked a few days ago at a wine tasting. I was unable to give a convincing answer...
Certainly, I do have one or two inclinations that could be summed up in a nutshell. But it's tricky to give a precise answer. My brain was boiling, as if faced with the question of the century, ready to draw a favorite Grape variety , a region, a winemaker then go into a long explanation but no, I preferred to give the following answer: "it depends".
Obviously, the answer is disappointing. Disappointing for my interlocutor, who was expecting an unfailing professional conviction. Normal, after tasting so many things, tastes become more refined and attractions for certain wines emerge, but it's not as simple as that. The indecision that can be read in this "it depends" therefore deserves a slight justification.
A simple matter of taste?
Okay, wine is a matter of taste. Only, are my tastes frozen in marble for all that? Our tastes are often influenced by outside influences, we can evolve and discover new ones all the time, especially in wine! In this universe, it is better to be open, not to be afraid to share, to evolve according to one's neighbour and to refuse all kinds of ruts. But are my tastes fair, accepted, perfectly identified? I'm not sure. Because wine is above all a matter of feelings. It's something that is sometimes difficult to tame!
Depending on the event, the weather, the morale and the people who accompany you, the feeling will always be different. For a party by the sea under 28°, no need to bring your favourite Coteaux du Layon or your Bordeaux aged 36 months in barrels, it can be good but not there. These wines will not tell their story, the reason why they exist. Rather, the warmth invites a rosé to share like Benjamin Taillandier's Six Roses, a light, fruity, slightly refreshing red to drink like the TP3 Rouge from Winery Arcadie or a white armoured with freshness. Simple, effective, cheap things for a top event. The guarantee, also, to better talk and share the wines.
You can drink the most famous wine in the world, if it is not tasted in the best conditions, it will undoubtedly be a failure. It won't get you anything! Nada! On the contrary, a buddy's wine can remain engraved forever in your mind if you drink it under a linden tree, on a full moon night, with your lover, friends or family.
Putting the "drinking knowledge" aside
So maybe it's better to put aside the etiquette, the habits. Put a brake on the judgement of a wine according to "savoir boire" or label and prefer to turn on the sensitivity of the moment. This would undoubtedly allow us to welcome the shy, those who do not have the "codes" of tasting in the closed universe of wine, which excludes as much as it brings together! To function with "I like it", "I don't like it" before trying to find out why. It is precisely natural wines allow all this thanks to their drinkability, their spirit and above all their quality!
A favourite wine is the one that surprises, that gives energy as much as it can soothe. A wine that looks so much towards the future that one becomes nostalgic for it. A favourite wine is one that stirs, that tells a story, because it is also a product that hides something human. THE keel is above all the one you want to share!
"When he's drunk with who?" That's the answer I should have given, or not. Anyway, answering "it depends" to this kind of question is a good opportunity to philosophize a bit!
Cover design: Mimi, Fifi & Glouglou by Michel Tolmer, published by Editions de l'épure.
