Epic wine tasting, and lunch!

 My regular reader knows that wine plays an important role in my life,  and has done so for the last forty-something years. While I may have stumbled upon the wonderful world of wine almost by accident, joining the wine society at my post-graduate University when I suddenly found myself with time to spare, I stayed because I discovered in the world of wine endless fascination, something to be passionate about. And it is, for me, a life-long passion.

The world of wine is populated by many wonderful people who, for the most part, share this passion irrespective of where they fit in; this is the world not only of the professionals working at all levels of the wine trade, but also that of the dedicated amateurs who devote time and money to the appreciation of wine as a fascinating, delicious, interesting, life-enhancing liquid. This is not about drunkards, though some of us may occasionally also drink too much, but about tastes and textures, aromas and colours, and how they intertwine with food of all kinds, both simple and complex, straightforward or elaborate.

The other Saturday one of my friends, who also happens to be a lifelong wine enthusiast, put on a wine tasting at his home in Athens, combining it with lunch, and invited a group of friends of his, wine people all, to enjoy the experience. The theme was interesting wines of the world, excluding France, and the selection was intriguing, beguiling and thought-provoking, a real enthusiast's pot pourri of tastes. The food may have played second fiddle to the wine, but was equally satisfying and a terrific accompaniment to the wine, helping to complete and elevate the palette of taste.

YT hosts events such as this at most once a year, though this was delayed due to health reasons. The more attentive among you will remember that I have written about similar occasions in the past, and also how special they are. Unique in nature, with no commercial motive whatsoever but rather passion as the driver. YT is fortunate that, thanks to a successful commercial career he is able to indulge his passion and we, his friends, are even more fortunate that he is willing to share his passion with us.

The ordeal we faced involved 9 wines and a spirit, all from notable producers, thankfully not served blind as on some previous occasions, as I would have had trouble in identifying some (most?) of them, with age and individuality making most of them striking but not clearly typical. The wines moved between stunning perfection - the first, a riesling from Austria, was just flawless in every way, delicate yet powerful, and set the tone for the afternoon. Our senses were challenged, tantalised, puzzled and rewarded with the wines that followed, then finally bludgeoned to a close with an insanely characterful Jamaican rum from 1945. Should anyone desperately want to know more about them I have detailed tasting notes on all the wines of the day but will not bore you with them unless you so request.

Yet this was not a typical wine tasting with the wines lined up and tasted solely with the benefit of a few crackers or similar; this was a paired lunch, where YT and co. served several dishes to accompany - no, perfectly match - the wines and keep us amused, interested and fed! He may not thank me for revealing this but he is internationally renowned for his matching of food and wine, with his attention to detail being unique and hugely successful. All food prepared and/or served at his home is of the highest order, unpretentious yet supremely delicious - some of the best meals I have eaten in Greece have been there!

All in all this was a very special day, one that the attendees will not forget in a hurry, that most people will never experience in their lifetime. I feel truly blessed, as a passionate wine and food person, to be included.

Little wisdom, plenty of wine, much to discuss...

 Whatever criticism you may have concerning my long absence, dear reader, you would be justified in expressing it, though hopefully in a polite and constructive manner. My excuse is simple: though I have been as opinionated as ever I simply lacked inspiration in expressing said thoughts. Life has been smothering for many reasons, leaving me unable to vocalise all I wanted to say in my normal manner... So I just shut up!

But I'm back, ready, willing and able (I hope!) to keep you informed and entertained once again. There is plenty to observe, discuss and criticise in the world today and, while our opinions on what is taking place may vary, we all have thoughts and expressed or unexpressed observations.

World events have given us plenty of food for thought with, perhaps, the Middle East leading the way. Not only have the horrific events in and around Israel, showing human behaviour at its worst in so many ways, but the recent Syria developments overthrowing decades of tyranny but potentially dragging the country backwards into a theocratic, brutal and unenlightened existence. Further south and to the east in Yemen there is further unrest, directly affecting shipping traffic in the area and thus having an impact on our daily lives wherever in the world we reside.

The main developments that I am concerned about are in the USA, so far away from my European domicile but nevertheless affecting the whole world. The voters there have decided to reelect Donald Trump as President despite his many manifest failings; as the comeback kid he seems intent in upsetting not only the way the political system has operated in the USA since its creation, but also the current world order, established alliances etc. Nothing in his past performances leaves us confident that he actually has a solid understanding of how anything works and that he has well thought-out plans on how to bring about real, positive change anywhere. While the US is potentially the main beneficiary of his benevolence and creativity, the rest of the world will also be affected to a lesser or greater degree.

Russia is, of course, also a concern, with President (Dictator in all but name...) Putin seemingly intent on impressing the rest of the world with his country's might both militarily and economically, but achieving decidedly mixed results. It is unclear how he will seek to mitigate his lack of success, but I sincerely hope that as the dead mount up he does not resort to greater aggression. I fail to comprehend how Russia with all its natural resources cannot afford its normal citizens an adequate standard of living, while supplying the world with robber barons living the high life in their mega yachts. President Putin would have cemented his place in history if he had achieved internal balance and happiness rather than pursuing dreams of empire, in my opinion.

The past summer highlighted some of the problems of Global Climate Change, ultimately global warming, which is upsetting the sensitive balances of local microclimates with potentially devastating results. Long droughts, exceptionally heavy rainfall and prolonged periods of very high temperatures have caused problems in many parts of the world but it is the longterm effects that are the most worrying in both local and global terms. Current form suggests that things will only get worse, making me grateful not to be in the first flush of youth.

Still, I'm not quite ready to pop my clogs so you'll have to put up with my musings for some time. Regularly!