In Vino Veritas

I am in the Rhine Valley resplendent with meandering waters, medieval castles, quaint baroque houses and tiled roads. And the view looks better with a close friend next to me.
Today has been about wine tasting. We walked into a restaurant to sit across a table with an assortment of oddly shaped wine glasses. The Tasting Room had this warm toasty feel to it.
I’ve tried to absorb as much as I could about the moment, learn and understand the different types of wine, sip them …Reluctantly sometimes only to enjoy them later. And vice versa at other times.
On the ride back home, I am silent. Then moon has sent his reflection in the fickle waters to keeps us company for the long bus ride. The lure of a good cup of coffee and meaningful conversation is riveting. My thoughts are in a different place.
The thing is – I love wine tasting. The laughter, the surprises, the anguish and the warmth.
And revealingly so - wine tasting has turned out to have some essential pre-requisites: an open mind, expectant tongue and ability to savor the taste long after the wine is over. God knows – I could learn to approach my own life like that.
What if I could somehow learn to approach different experiences in my life with the same amount of enthusiasm? It now seems unfair to have expected the same constant state in life … perpetually.
I have to understand that the different situations and people that I meet and am moved and affected by are much like these wines.
They come from different regions; have different histories with me and different reactions to situations. Some – like the ice wine I had earlier this evening, tend to bring out the best in a yum sponge cake, while others – like the disastrous red that made my food seem spicier are meant for different occasions.
And regardless of the vintage or harvest – I have remembered the most ordinary glass of wine – because of the company, laughter or love that surrounded it.
The wines that have tasted sweetest – are the ones where the grapes waited the entire season of their life to be picked – only in the stealth of the night in freezing sub zero temperatures. And yet, in life I have so much anxiety associated with waiting.
If only I could learn to appreciate that most situations will be over before I know, and I should make the most of it – regardless of the outcome. The after taste would decide the verdict – not the present in the heat of the moment feeling.
That’s what I love about travelling. That every once in a while – when I cross borders – I am also able to step meekly about of the boundaries I have imposed on my own life and mind.
And when I can toast that with a glass of white and a close friend for company, like this evening… I am suitably humbled and Grapeful.