Absolutely loved this! So full of wisdom, entertainment and food for thought. My husband used to talk about Richard Feynman a lot, but now that he is retired and we are living in the 'wine state' I can see a different angle for him.
You are so right about the language of wine-tasting. I think those fruity, veggie, flowery adjectives all derive from that dreaded misnomer 'bouquet', as though one had chomped on a handful of flowers blindfolded, and were required to 'name that blossom'. But what I love about your description of the tea ceremony was the emphasis on the process, on the event itself at a particular place in time, rather than the dissection of the taste of tea itself. This coupling of process with content is what contributes to how tea tasted that one time--not to be compared with all the other times when the circumstances were different. This is a kind of connoisseurship that requires paying close attention to the smallest details. A wonderful post.
Thank you!!! I always was amazed that the taste of the tea was not really discussed in the same way as the occasion and process, like you said. When I started to trying to talk about wine without using other food analogies, it was surprisingly hard for me, but then I could never remember what wines tasted like... now I trend to think of them as season and terroir as in location or the spirit of place of the wine.
I always think of the place where I first had a wine. For instance, when I drink a Grüner Veltliner, I always remember the first time I drank a Grüner Veltliner (Salzburg), which opens up vistas and location details in my mind. It's Proustian, I suppose. But my memory works the same way. If I remember something I said decades ago, I remember exactly where I was standing when I said it. I even remember which direction I was facing.
I am the same.... though in my "mini-syllabus," I put it under spring... maybe because it is usually so fresh to drink in summer and spring! If it was a painting, for me, it would be the frescoes in the Kunsthistoriches museum in Vienna by Klimt https://www.khm.at/en/visit/exhibitions/2018/stairway-to-klimt/
Absolutely loved this! So full of wisdom, entertainment and food for thought. My husband used to talk about Richard Feynman a lot, but now that he is retired and we are living in the 'wine state' I can see a different angle for him.
Thank you for these delicious musings! They make me want to keep a journal for everything taste-related, like Japanese food (that I'm still very ignorant about -- so many different fish!), tea, coffee & yes, wine. I did keep a coffee one for a while when I first got interested in how to brew the perfect cup. That taste wheel is similar to the wine one & so everything you said applies to coffee appreciation & more. Beautiful!
Absolutely loved this! So full of wisdom, entertainment and food for thought. My husband used to talk about Richard Feynman a lot, but now that he is retired and we are living in the 'wine state' I can see a different angle for him.
You are so lucky to be in the wine state!!!!!!! Thanks for readingxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
You are so right about the language of wine-tasting. I think those fruity, veggie, flowery adjectives all derive from that dreaded misnomer 'bouquet', as though one had chomped on a handful of flowers blindfolded, and were required to 'name that blossom'. But what I love about your description of the tea ceremony was the emphasis on the process, on the event itself at a particular place in time, rather than the dissection of the taste of tea itself. This coupling of process with content is what contributes to how tea tasted that one time--not to be compared with all the other times when the circumstances were different. This is a kind of connoisseurship that requires paying close attention to the smallest details. A wonderful post.
Thank you!!! I always was amazed that the taste of the tea was not really discussed in the same way as the occasion and process, like you said. When I started to trying to talk about wine without using other food analogies, it was surprisingly hard for me, but then I could never remember what wines tasted like... now I trend to think of them as season and terroir as in location or the spirit of place of the wine.
I always think of the place where I first had a wine. For instance, when I drink a Grüner Veltliner, I always remember the first time I drank a Grüner Veltliner (Salzburg), which opens up vistas and location details in my mind. It's Proustian, I suppose. But my memory works the same way. If I remember something I said decades ago, I remember exactly where I was standing when I said it. I even remember which direction I was facing.
I am the same.... though in my "mini-syllabus," I put it under spring... maybe because it is usually so fresh to drink in summer and spring! If it was a painting, for me, it would be the frescoes in the Kunsthistoriches museum in Vienna by Klimt https://www.khm.at/en/visit/exhibitions/2018/stairway-to-klimt/
This is priceless! I enjoyed every drop!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Absolutely loved this! So full of wisdom, entertainment and food for thought. My husband used to talk about Richard Feynman a lot, but now that he is retired and we are living in the 'wine state' I can see a different angle for him.
Thank you for these delicious musings! They make me want to keep a journal for everything taste-related, like Japanese food (that I'm still very ignorant about -- so many different fish!), tea, coffee & yes, wine. I did keep a coffee one for a while when I first got interested in how to brew the perfect cup. That taste wheel is similar to the wine one & so everything you said applies to coffee appreciation & more. Beautiful!