Grape Juice

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At some point or other, we all in the wine business have probably been asked that most intimate, reflective and often challenging of questions: why wine?

But really, what makes wine so special? I mean, you grow some grapes, squash them, add yeast, bottle it and then it makes you drunk, right?

Well yes, but here are just a few (and I'm talking tip of the iceberg) examples of the magical little quirks that, for me at least,  make it so very much more than that:

The vineyards of the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape in southern  Rhône are strewn with large round stones called 'galets' or 'pudding stones'. These stones spend all day absorbing heat from the sun and all night warming up the vines. Nobody put them there, they're just there. But it's these stones that mean the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape have more body, intensity and structure than most in the world, and warrant their esteem.

Despite the fact that the bottled product may spend months or years maturing in a cellar, be shipped around the world in planes, trains and automobiles, and spend goodness knows how long sitting on a shelf in a shop; many grapes are picked at night, when it's a bit cooler, to retain their freshness.

Some wines, particularly sweet white wines of Sauternes for example, are capable of aging over a century, and offer a different drinking experience on any given day of its lifetime. The French red Beaujolais Nouveau is best drunk within a matter of days.

Why wine? 

Because wine has more depth, more character, more expression of its origins, more heart and more soul than I can even begin to describe.  

Grape juice it may be, but my God it's special.