Amant de vin?

Amant de vin, French for "lover of wine". Makes me sound like a wino doesn't it? Well, I'm not. I thought at first of naming the blog "Wine Snob" but I'm not really. I do like wine though... as I told my friend Elbert I love everything about it. I like not just the alcohol (lets face it, if I wanted to get drunk there are cheaper ways), but I love how wine engages all of my senses. Sight, smell, taste, touch, and yes even sound (imagine how the crystal clinks when you toast someone) are all touched by a single glass of wine. I love how wine cuts across academic disciplines: biology, chemistry, horticulture, history, literature, philosophy and many, many others at one point or another discuss wine. One can drink wine alone or with friends, as a standalone beverage or something to enhance a meal. Wine can be used to celebrate or to mourn, to loosen up social constraints or to propel one into deeper thought. Wine speaks of a lifestyle, of sophistication and (or) of genteel living. Modern "brass and glass" and high-powered business and at the same time of "terroir", of soil and climate and gentle care and nurture. of going out of town to "wine country" and of the backyard BBQ. Wine to me represents all of these things and more. So I hope you will join me as I explore this fantastic world and all of the things that accompany it.