I VIAGGIATORI GOURMET

Premessa doverosa: riconoscere i vini alla cieca non è l’abilità più importante – e soprattutto gratificante – tra quelle che si imparano nei corsi o nel corso di anni di assaggi. Non lo è per i sommelier, né tantomeno può esserlo per coloro i quali il vino è “soltanto” una grande passione. Quindi, se state pensando di iniziare un percorso di formazione in materia con l’obiettivo di diventare dei “piccoli” Luca Gardini (il rabdomante del vino, l’uomo con il super-potere di riconoscere qualsiasi etichetta gli si pari davanti), per me avete sbagliato strada. Datto ciò, è però innegabile che la degustazione “cieca” di un vino (quindi assaggiarlo senza sapere cosa si ha nel bicchiere) abbia un fascino tutto suo, un’aura quasi mistica, che rende questo esercizio un rito quasi irrinunciabile, quantomeno una volta ogni tanto. Per alcuni soggetti – di norma i più vanitosi – rappresenta un modo “evidente” per dimostrare le proprie abilità e conoscenza in materia, anche se il più delle...

Duty premise: recognizing blind wines is not the most important - and above all gratifying - skill among those that are learned in courses or over years of tasting. It’s not for sommeliers, nor can’t be for those who wine is "only" a great passion. So, if you are thinking to start a course with the aim of becoming "little" Luca Gardini (an Italian wine-diviner, the man with the super-power to recognize any label he stands before), for you got me wrong. However, it is undeniable that the blind tasting of a wine (so tasting it without knowing what you have in the glass) has its own charm, an almost mystical aura, which makes this exercise an almost essential ritual, at least once sometimes. For any subjects - usually the most vain - it represents an "obvious" way to demonstrate their skills and knowledge on the subject, although often, given the numerous variables involved, it ends up being an opportunity to make a fool, taking sometimes even sensat...

Among the most granitic certainties in the world of wine, two of these are about Burgundy and its wines. The first is a "positive" aspect, and is related to their unbelievable quality, which makes them count - both in the field of reds (based on Pinot Noir) and whites (based on Chardonnay) - among the best wines in the world, if not directly on the absolute vertex. The other one, on the opposite, wants that the Burgundy Reds, for a lot of reasons (continental climate, difficult and demanding grape variety, very high prices) are the wines with the worst quality / price ratio, and that to drink a good wine from this area you need to spend a capital. On the first aspect, from my personal experience I do not express myself, also because having a portfolio lightly far from the "Russian oligarch" or "Arab sheikh" level, I never approached the myths of this denomination. On the second statement, on the basis of my previous experiences I allow myself to ...