Mini-Syllabus: How to Talk about Wine like a Japanese Tea Master

 

How to Talk about Wine like a Japanese Tea Master

A poet once said, 'The whole universe is in a glass of wine.' We will probably never know in what sense he meant it, for poets do not write to be understood. But it is true that if we look at a glass of wine closely enough we see the entire universe. There are the things of physics: the twisting liquid which evaporates depending on the wind and weather, the reflection in the glass; and our imagination adds atoms. The glass is a distillation of the earth's rocks, and in its composition we see the secrets of the universe's age, and the evolution of stars--Richard Feynman

Course Overview

This course aims to uncover new ways of talking about wine. We will do this in order to elevate not only our wine drinking experience but to arrive at greater harmony in our lives. This will require that we deconstruct --and perhaps totally dismantle --older ways of talking about wine in order to discover more interesting and perhaps more enlightened ways of spending our time. These ways might include a better appreciation of the seasons and the craftsmanship of wine, as well as character cultivation in terms of refining our tastes and developing greater equanimity. Anyway, it can't hurt.

It must be said, there is no right or wrong way of talking about wine. In order to arrive at a style that is a good personal fit, we first need to be aware of the various historic ways that people have talked about the organoleptic characteristics of wine. We will then look at other traditions of connoisseurship -- beginning with the Japanese tea ceremony--to see if there are not lessons to be learned. These lessons might include concepts such as seasonality, focus on the present moment, attentiveness to the unique experience, utilizing all five senses, listening to the voice within, and an acceptance of ephemerality.

Questions to coinsider:

• How are the descriptive and evaluative vocabularies changed over time?
• Is there a corporate coopting of artisanal wines? What are the social implications of the corporatization of wine? 
• Is there "wine as resistance?" 
• Do wine makers really produce two kinds of wine? One for drinking locally and one for the international (American) market?
• Who is this person Robert Parker? And why do some people believe he must be stopped?
• What is terroir? 
• How is memory tied to heightened attention and mental associations 
• What is a memory palace?
• What can the cultural values of tea ceremony teach us? 
• Can wine be a spiritual practice like tea?

Main Pedagogies:   Each student will develop their own language to talk about wine and will use this vocabulary to construct a wine journal, in which they begin to develop their own architecture of memory. It could be wine as season, wine as almanac, wine as paintings, wine as galaxies. Poetry drinking games and other tasting competitions are also encouraged.

In doing so, students will attempt to uncover what "terroir" means to them and to find tools for elevating their enjoyment of fine wine. In the end, students are encouraged to play around. (See: Playing Around (लीला)

Wines under consideration

• French, Austrian, Spanish, and Italian artisan wine (Future classes will explore different regions in the Old World) 
• Amphora Wine from Sicily and Georgia
• Amber wines (wine as resistance) 
• Historic and esoteric grapes, like the RESSURECTED Golden Dorona of Venice and Hamdani, Jandali, and Dabouki 
• Compare bottle shapes (See page61 &69 in History of Wine in 100 Bottles)

Wine Chronicle (Sample)

Summer 夏

• Etna Bianco, Etna Rosso [Curtaz, Occhipinti, and COS]
• Amphora Wine [COS]
• Qveri wines:  Baia Wines "Live and Let Live" ; Budshuri
• Venissa Wine Bianco

Autumn 秋

• Distinguish barolo versus barbaresco SOIL variety (Gaja)
• Distinguish: Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Aglianico GRAPE varieties,
• Distinguish SOIL Sancerre versus Pouilly-Fumé 
• Comparative Tasting, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Domaine Drouhin Oregon and Maison Joseph Drouhin in France
• Amber Wines (Garganea "Lazaro")
• Tuscan "Oregano hills" il Borro
• Sicilian nero d'avola (Occhipinti) also Tenuta Regaleali Tasca d'Almerita 
• Challenging: Historic grapes Cremisan 

Winter Christmas 冬

• Burgundy〜 all winter long
• Christmas Amarone
• Bordoux versus Burgundy REDS

Spring 春

• Resurrection/Easter: Resurrected Dorona Grape Venissa Rosso and VILLA DEI MISTERI ROSSO POMPEIANO
• RADICI TAURASI DOCG Aglianico 100% (Also by Mastroberardino) 
• Grüner Veltliner
• Gewürztraminer 
• Zweigelt
• Alsace Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer  (Tribach)

Moonview お月見 Sublime

• Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon
• Torre Muga Rioja
• Halos de Jupiter Chateauneuf du Pape

READING: Main Texts

• Noriko Morishita's Every Day is a Good Day: 15 Lessons I Learned about Happiness from Japanese Tea Culture  
• Lawrence Osbourne's The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World
• Ann Fediman's The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization
• Kevin Begos' wonderful Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor and the Search for the Origins of Wine
• Ann Fediman's The Wine Lover's Daughter: A Memoir
• Terry Theise's Reading Between the Wines
• History of Wine in 100 Bottles
• Simon Woolf's Amber Revolution

Other Reading

• Lawrence Osbourne's The Wet and the Dry: A Drinker's Journey  
• Alice Feiring's For the Love of Wine: My Odyssey Through the World's Most Ancient Wine Culture

Articles

• This 25-Year-Old Winemaker Is Making Some of Georgia’s Buzziest Wines
• Wet Dogs and Gushing Oranges
• Tastes of Wine: Toward a Cultural History
• The Power of Terroir in Sicily's Volcanic White Wines
• Zibibbio in Pithos, COS, 2016

Watch the movie Mondovino