"Good wine is somebody's passion"

I'm feeling contemplative and helping that along is Tom Petty, "Runnin’ down a dream". That being said, I would like to start out by quoting Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Breecher, who write for the Wall Street Journal and can be viewed @ WSJ.com/Tastings. They wrote a piece entitled "A toast to a Pioneer" a final salute to Robert Mondavi who recently passed away. The key point of the article which caught my eye, is a quote I suppose they have coined, and have said very often in writing about wine "wine isn't just a liquid in a bottle, good wine is somebody's passion".
Yes, somebody's passion with the emphasis on good.

We have all been exposed to mediocre wine, something purple to yellow in color to fill a bottle with. They end on drug store shelves or local "liquor-ramma" and many times are in boxes or jugs. I here many people who say they just can't taste the difference, I beg to differ. I would say to them, "can you tell the difference between a Volkswagen bug and say a Porsche 911 Targa?" Invariably, they say sure I can, of course. Well those same vast distinctions lie in the world of wine as well.

I believe they just have never been exposed to the difference in any significant way. Personally, I was a neophyte to wine and really never embraced it one iota. But after my first trip to Napa, my eyes were opened! I quickly realized I had a pedestrian palate, as many folks do today. This is not a slight, it is just reality. This distinction we swirl, sniff and sip is the passion of the winemaker, the workers in the field, the desire of the winery owner, the land which was chosen, and the choice to excel beyond the pale of orthodoxy. These choices are reflected in the bottle and finally poured into our glasses for our consideration and enjoyment. You can almost here them (quality wine purveyors) saying, "look at what I made"! Enjoy!

Dorothy and John also wanted to remind us by finishing the article with another quote which I really liked. Remember the next time you have a quality bottle of wine, "which someone cared about, you are drinking that persons art and maybe a little bit or his or her soul". It does not hurt to be reflective of the amazing amount of work, dedication and excellence which went into bringing you a great glass of wine. It is too easy to be mediocre; excellence must be strived for, like the vines which strive for the water.

It is easy to take it for granted. We walk into our favorite wine store, order it online, or pick it up from the winery on a tasting and if you hastily gulp it down, I believe you are missing out. Take, your time to swirl, sniff and sip the artwork which lies in your glass.

Cheers everyone!