Behind the choice to drink wine there can be several reasons, says Daniele Cernilli, but the main one is the hedonistic one: we drink wine because it is good, because we like it.
Some of you may remember the movie Sideways, starring Paul Giamatti and Virginia Madsen, in which she, playing the role of Maya, a sommelier and wine expert, in a beautiful monologue to him talks about the reasons why she is passionate about wine. She says wine brings back memories of those who made it, those who are still alive and those who are no longer alive. Then of what the season was like that year, spring, summer, and harvest time. She ends by saying ” And then it’s really good“.
Well, it is this last statement that I would like to emphasize. If you drink wine, it is mainly for hedonistic motives, because we like it, because it is good. Not because it’s good or bad, not because it’s “cool” to do it and in the end not even for cultural reasons.
Then, yes, someone particularly knowledgeable also thinks about other things. Where it came from, how it was probably made, and by whom, especially. But the organoleptic value, flavor, aroma, color, are the first reasons why people drink wine.
Wine as a pleasure to be enjoyed
Karl Popper, a philosopher of science, wrote that “Human beings are irreplaceable and, as such, are clearly very different from machines. They are capable of savoring the joy of life, but they are also capable of suffering and can face death with full awareness. They are selves, ends in themselves, as Kant said “.
Here, in my human being, an “I” for my own sake, I express preferences. I hope with intelligence and responsibility. Among them is the fact that I like to drink many wines, because, at least the ones I try, I find them good.
There are reasons that led me to do this. The fact that since childhood I have been a geography buff. In wine I discovered A geography of tastes and smells. I like to imagine the places from which they come, and many I have even visited. I like to know the reasons that led people to grow vines, to harvest, to make wine, to age their wines. Often with passion, beyond the possible and obvious economic aspects. Succeeding in making something that first and foremost satisfies the taste and smell of so many people. Really good wines, in short, just as Maya said.
