I just got wind of a very discussed Italian wine blog post -on Intravino- last week: it had to do with an Italian sommelier who did a tasting at poolside – wearing sunglasses, no shirt on etc.
Boy did this guy (AIS Sommelier – Andrea Gori) get it from Franco Ziliani, a journalist who is also involved with the A.I.S. (Assoc. Italiana Sommeliers – Italy’s official sommelier association), writing for their magazine DeVinis, the AIS website and produces their weekly newsletter… and it seems, a huge advocate of wine tasting, wine drinking and wine talking etiquette. I don’t know Ziliani personally but would also like to mention, he is respected by many and really knows his wine.
The jist of those dramatic posts was, yes, drama was born in Italy -and his sisters are hand gestures-, “there is no place for such clownery” in the wine world and Gori should have known better as this puts his profession in a bad light. Really? Why? Since when did wine tasting become a Pagan ritual reserved only for those who chant in sync? It’s exactly this type of mentality which makes wine so “unapproachable” for many. The reason why wine is still regarded as a snob’s beverage by some.
Some may be thinking “Huh? Is this for real?”… but the fact is this is Italy, where so many things are tough to explain. For one, Berlusconi being voted in, not one, not two but yes, three times. Enough said.
Now as far as “representing” goes, it’s one thing if you go to a restaurant and the sommelier 1. slams your bottle on the table as if he/she were serving beer at Coyote Ugly, 2. looks like he’s washing dishes in the back when he’s not serving customers, 3. explains a wine with “uuhhh… it’s yummy” and so on. If you eat at these types of restaurants, I guess you’d expect a certain level of etiquette… I would.
I just can’t stand it when someone has the gaul to tell you how/what you should be drinking, eating, talking… in any aspect of life for that matter. Of course the Italians want to protect their traditions (which cultures don’t?), but will they do so through force feeding? I love tradition but I also love “today” and all the new traditions tomorrow will bring. A healthy mix surely can’t be a bad thing.
Since when did wine become a religion? And how the hell did I miss the headline?
really great points…it seems that some of these organizations and publications are trying to hold wine hostage so that it can’t be approachable…without their “expert” advice (read: $$$). The blogging world is really changing this; guys like yourself and Vaynerchuk at winelibrary.tv. It’s scaring them that wine is no longer under their protection, so they’re lashing out desperately.
Just stumbled upon your site via Twitter…keep up the good work!
Hi Joe,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, Gary’s very much set the standard when it comes to reaching new, younger wine drinkers in a relaxed and fun manner. If I manage to reach just a fraction of the people and hlep take the snob out of the wine -even just a little bit-, I’d consider it success.
Let it be known that I belong to the same organisation (A.I.S.) mentioned above. Becoming a sommelier was due to my passion for wine and I was so sick and tired of visiting seminars where the self personified wine guru couldn’t keep his/her trap shut when it came to making biased statements. I’m talking about seminars in Paris, London, Rome and Munich, so pretty much across the board and not just a single experience.
As the saying goes… “If you want to break the rules, you have to learn them first.” I’m not trying to revolutionise anything, just being me… and the funny thing is, many ppl seem to agree with this view – young and old.
You’re so right when it comes to the $$$$$ thing. Wine’s a Billion$ industry and the “mystique” surrounding wine was always accompanied by keeping ppl ignorant or pretending that the ability to smell cherries, leathr and what-not is some type of “magic”. I’ve learned that if I tell ppl/friends “this is good” or “this is bad” they’ll tend to agree because I’m a “wine guy”. So that’s exactly why I don’t and prefer to ask them what they think before I say anything at all. Anyobdy can analyse wine, there are very few who can’t. And it just gets easier when you have the opportunity to smell/taste tons of different wines – all the time. So Mr. Parker isn’t Merlin The Magician, I prefer to think of him more like Siegfried & Roy all rolled into one.
Keep on keepin’ ON Joe.