Column

Best cellars

For most of us a wine is a difficult thing to remember. But once you have tasted them you start to change. You begin remembering them even if only somewhat. The name or brand may not be exactly embedded in your memory but the general appeal and the overall perception of the wine does manage to stay contained and you can recall and recount the same if and when called upon to do so.

And the proof that such things happen is me! I remember vague oddities but can’t for the love of me recall what it was I had for breakfast, or, if it is post noon, lunch. I seem to work in technically a very efficient manner in that I do not retain that which need not be essentially recalled.

But the thing of essence is that I can remember wines, if they were memorable enough. Just like people with lack of personality or character fail to make a mark on most of us, wines behave similarly so. A feeble diluted wine is forgotten even before the sip hits the stomach whereas a good or a great wine can bring even a future party to life especially if you happen to have the extended gift of narration!

I have major difficulties with faces, putting a name to them and recalling where I saw them. But I almost do manage to remember a good wine even better when I have shared it with people. Take for example my recent trip to Austria. I may not remember all the wines I tasted but the following things I can assure you were life-altering experiences: Trying the wines of Kracher, Emmerich Knoll, Judith Beck, Uwe Schieffer, Rabl, Rieterer (for rosé Schilcher) and Brundlmayer. Loimer, Markus Huber and Heinrich were also worth a Kilobyte of my in-built storage space and I wouldn’t hesitate if I chance upon a bottle anywhere.

Visiting Palais Coburg for dinner and a guided tour of their wine cellar. Or should I say wine cellars?! There were more than one, each for stocking different wines from different parts of the world, different bottle sizes and vintages, different...what I do remember is a good friend telling me it was the “Best Wine Cellar in the World”.

And surprisingly (and also memorably) enough, the sceptic in me was converted to belief.

Austrian white wines, in fact have been the most reminiscent of memories of late. Filing this article from a Mediterranean beach, all I can say is that nobody takes their whites as seriously as the Austrians do; which is perhaps why they are the most fun to drink.

So, as you can see, I remember when I have a good time with wines. The mood, ambience, setting, restaurant, all became a scene etched forever. I have similar experiences with other alcohols, especially beer and tequila, and often when one followed another, but I assure you that neither (or none) of the parties party to those evenings remember or want to really.

Whereas with wine the best bit is the friends I have made over shared evenings. My vinous friends, if you are reading this, I am thankful to all of you for putting up with me but I am more grateful to the bottle that led our paths to cross, and intertwine. So, to conclude, I agree that a wine is a difficult thing to remember. But once you have been touched by a magical one, its effect can be the hardest thing to forget.

The writer is a sommelier.