It’s 2022 and I have decided to take up blogging. Now you might say, I am decades late to the party, but here’s hoping – better late than never. Honestly, something just had to be done about this nagging feeling of itchy fingers and now seems as good a time as any to start. Also, in all honesty, there has been a fair share of waiting and procrastinating. Had I listened to some of my dearest and nearest a while back, my blog would be a toddler by now. Instead, I am today taking baby steps. But here we are, my laptop and I, at least one of us quite excited to be sharing some of my thoughts with you.
Let me address the three basic questions you might have developed: who is she, what is she writing about and why should I spend my precious time reading it.
I am Maria. As in Maria’s wine blog. Makes sense, right? Wow, creativity really got me. I guess I could have gone for something slightly more original, but then again no. Believe me when I say, all the other amazing name ideas were already taken. Again, it’s 2022, what did I expect? But isn’t there a saying anyway: what’s in a name? However, what you should probably know about me is that in life, I buy, sell and write about wine. I often also dream about wine and occasionally drink it. Or wait, was it the other way around?
So don’t you worry, I won’t just be babbling about whatever comes to mind. The central theme, wine, surely doesn’t come as a surprise to those who know me personally. I have other passions too, that coincidentally closely relate to wine such as cooking. Oh yes, I sincerely enjoy spending hours in the kitchen, but I haven’t planned on writing about that. At least not for now. On the one hand, I have a feeling this blog might become an all- over-the-place mood board of wine related topics. On the other hand, I will try to deliver a carefully curated content. The idea is to go with the flow, write from the heart while aiming for key words such as: fun and intuitive, relatable and informative. So expect all of the above plus some illustrations and pictures, all by yours truly, if not stated otherwise.
So why wine you might ask? Where do I start? Well actually, let’s not make it too complicated…let’s start with France, my country of adoption. In my rather volatile early twenties, I somehow (Dieu merci!) made a resolute yet gut-feeling driven decision to move to Paris and I have not regretted it once. Although currently living in the Moselle wine region, in Eastern France, I have a feeling, life will drift me back to Paris eventually…either that or a vineyard in the South…we shall see. But another valid reason from the top of my head would be that France produces, in my opinion, the most beautiful and honest wines. So, by now, I have spent most of my adulthood in this wonderful country and over a decade in the most breathtaking capitale – Paris. I guess when it comes to French gastronomy and wine, you could say my cultural integration has been really smooth. Maybe I simply needed time to get to this blog idea like some wines need time to mature. Finding similarities between myself and the object of my affection, that might just sound like a beginning of a beautiful love story.
And that’s what I want it to be, essentially, a series of stories about how much and why I love wine.
Over the course of writings to come, I’d like to make you explore and appreciate French wines the way I do. If travelling allows though, I would definitely love to do an episode or two of winelovers sans frontières and talk about other regions and countries as well. Just getting ahead of myself, for instance, revisiting some amazing wine regions in Slovenia or Israel and discovering my favorite Barolo winemakers’ scenic estate. Note to self: I should probably pull through this first post before getting carried away…literally all over the world. But now that I have actually started typing, I feel like my fingers could be up for a marathon. Or should I say, I have as many ideas bottled up as France has wine appellations. And believe me, there are plenty.
But that’s just the thing. Abundance in the wine world, makes for infinite topics. Moreover, for me, wine is about people, places (real and imaginary), sharing experiences and making great memories together. Sure, there are the occasional « party for one » moments but even when I drink wine by myself, I never actually feel alone. And yes, before you ask, I am definitely team “drink less but better wines”. When I indulge in wine, it’s mainly because I am looking for an aha moment and sometimes even a lesson or a reminder. Also, worth mentioning, I have a truly madly deeply selective memory, I believe some refer to it as a goldfish memory. But interestingly, I do find that all of my most memorable wine experiences have been stored in my brain in the most detailed manner and I find that quite fascinating. I guess that helps with blogging otherwise I should start tweeting instead…
In fact, let me elaborate, also because Google says I ideally need around 1600 words for the Internet to notice my blog! So, when I think about a particular wine, it is not necessarily in terms of its tasting notes, or a technical and very scholar evaluation, although I am trained to give that kind of comments as well. Thank you WSET, it was a hell of a study! But I want this blog to read more like poetry. In my humble non-native- English nothing rhymes-kind–of-a-way. Or at the very least something that unfolds like an open book. In a language that you can understand. Although to be honest, a fair amount of wine jargon will be used inevitably but then with a reasonable “translation”.
In terms of style, even I don’t know what to expect. I will try my best not to make it too eclectic, but the themes will probably vary from some basic ones such as « Why can’t sauvignon and chardonnay just get along » to « The truly terrifying effects of climate change on vines ». I said poetry earlier, but if I were to change genres all of a sudden and jump to prose, then in my narrative, the main characters would be winemakers and mother nature. There will also be portraits of inspiring people who work with wines and vines worldwide but the quintessence of it all is to show you who and what has had to come together to produce or should I say birth the extraordinary elixir we call wine. Sidenote: If you haven’t already, you will soon come to realize that I am a fan of looooong and never-ending sentences. Goes to show, I am no good at editing…
What I am better at, though, is food and wine pairings, because as I mentioned earlier, I love to cook. That could qualify as one of the informative or practical parts that I’m going for here. In fact, I will talk about these things soon in more detail, but for each post, I will recommend a wine in advance on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. That way you can be prepared. So, at the time of your choosing or perhaps when you simply need to wind down from a tough day or week at work. (Also not forgetting all the awesome SAHMs out there. Here’s what you’ll do: Just get the suggested bottle, prep it, if necessary (you’ll soon understand what I mean by that), pour yourself a glass while please, keeping in mind the right serving temperature and voilà, let the journey begin. This is probably where I should say that reading this blog does not require you to be of legal drinking age, however I do not in any way promote swirling a wine glass if you’re underage. Your time will come.
Should I recapitulate for those of you who prefer a more straight-to-the-point approach?
I love wine and I love writing. Consequently, I sometimes get this overwhelming urge to share what I know (and am continuously learning) and how I feel about wine. Because before anything else, to me, it is about the FEELING a wine awakes in me.
Going on a voyage and stripping down all the layers of complexity of extraordinary wines takes concentration.
The finest of them all are basically begging you to take it slow. So out of respect for, again, the winemaker and mother nature, let’s appreciate wine tactfully and in moderation.
Should I succeed in inspiring you in any way or enlightening your knowledge about wine, then that will make my day. Well, let’s be honest, that and a few other things, but point being, if you’d allow me, I would very much like to be that virtual wine coach or tasting companion you never knew you needed. There are so many ways I could turn this, but the bottom line is – I want to share my wine stories, encounters and adventures with you and hopefully reading those will provide you with some well-deserved me- time that you can enjoy with a glass of heavenly wine. Read, swirl, sip, repeat and in the process, find out what it is YOU love about wine!
All wishful thinking aside, I know I, for one, am very enthusiastic about my next post. I can tell you this much, a destination piece it shall be. That being said, I very much promote the live-in-the-present-moment kind of lifestyle and tonight’s dinner isn’t going to cook itself. Therefore, I am now off to…well I am already sitting behind my kitchen table, so not going far, but I am going to hit those save and upload buttons now (before I get cold feet and slide this document into some dusty folder never to be opened again) and leave you wanting more!
And if I may conclude with a toast: To new beginnings, new readers and definitely to more great wine! Santé!
Maria
