I\u2019m not saying this to you, but I heard it for many, many years (and I still do, whenever we meet)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let’s take it from the beginning\u2026 (as much as we can, since the delight of emotions is\u2014whatever way you do it\u2014their disorder).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t know much about wine, so my relationship with it is quite simple! \u2018I like it\u2019 or \u2018I don\u2019t like it\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I had the good fortune many, many years ago to meet two special people in my life \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of them was Giannis Boutaris, whose reply, when I said to him: \u2018I don\u2019t know a thing about wine: give me the name of a good wine\u2019, took me aback completely, while also being (a bit of) a relief:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Good wine is what you like!\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other one was a woman\u2026 Let’s call her \u2018the love of my life\u2019! And she knows so much about wine that in my eyes, she\u2019s a \u2018wise woman\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We always disagreed on the subject of \u2018wine\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What made me choose a wine was either the label (I\u2019d get it if I liked the design and the name), or the price (why pay a lot for something I wouldn\u2019t appreciate), or because she (the \u2018wise\u2019 woman of wines, of course) had told me to get a particular \u2018label\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll tell you one thing about her (the \u2018wise\u2019 woman of wines, of course): she took more time to pick out wines than she took to pick out clothes and\u2014believe me\u2014she is quite elegant!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She would turn the bottle one way, look at it another way, google it, and finally pronounce with a devilish certainty that you could not object to (to stop me from making a fool of myself):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We\u2019ll get these\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as we heard the sound of the cork, there was no more room for objections\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, if you permit, I will make a digression\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beer (in an iced glass) means life without rules, the beach, warm weather, surfing, pork chops at \u2018Telis\u2019 or burgers at \u2018Ladokolla\u2019, \u2018Armata\u2019 on Spetses, or relaxed nights and a decadent disco on the island of Kasos\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodka (in a rocks glass, with ice and 2 slices of lemon) means semi-darkness, loud music, mellow jazz, or even the music of Mazonakis, a crowd, but also relaxation, a hotel bar in New York or Brussels; it means\u2014how can I put it?\u2014something\u2026 quick and easy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(End of digression\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wine, however, means none of the above\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It suggests intensity, preparations, excitement, anticipation, dreams, ideas, new beginnings, and hard endings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(No doubt the brewers and drinkers of spirits will have a go at me now, but\u2014forgive me\u2014the truth needs to be told\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short, my friend, wine means feelings<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because that\u2019s what it meant when many, many years ago I was sitting in an armchair with a glass of wine (and without a cigarette), watching over my sleeping son who\u2019d come home for the first time\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every minute I had a little panic attack! With every sip of white wine, I had a thought like: \u2018what the hell, we\u2019ll manage\u2019 (exactly the same thing happened when my daughter arrived a few years later)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because that\u2019s what it meant when many, many years ago, I filched a bottle of wine, two very beautiful wine glasses (because I may not know about wine, but I\u2019m an expert with glasses), I carefully put them in the boot of the car and found myself for the first time with \u2018the love of my life\u2019, on a beach (Katakolo, would you believe it?) with conversation, laughter, confessions, glances, asking myself \u2018now what?\u2019 (that \u2018now what?\u2019 continued for many years)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because that\u2019s what it meant when many, many years ago I was staring (mind blank, in a cold sweat) at empty sheets of paper and pencils because I had to design my first magazine (it was the same story when I designed my first newspaper a few years later, and the same story the night before the first my radio show)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because that\u2019s what it meant when, several years ago, with a glass of wine in my hand, I was looking for the last time at the house where I had spent ten very beautiful years and was preparing to close the door behind me, having lived through a hard ending but with the relief of a new beginning\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what it meant a few years ago (again with a glass of wine) when I felt complete consternation\u2026 swinging between sadness and joy because my son had decided to pursue his dream to go live and work abroad\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s why I tell you, my friend, wine means feelings<\/em> and emotions<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t realise it until my dear friend Maria asked me to write something for the \u2018guest blog\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Take a look, read it, and if you like it, write something,<\/em>\u2019 she said to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went to the site and read, and felt embarrassed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n What could I contribute to a blog written by the \u2018wise ones\u2019, when I knew next to nothing about the subject?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in a meeting a few days ago (you know who you are and I thank you\u2026) the usual \u2018drink this, you\u2019ll love it!\u2019 set off in me a domino effect of memories!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it made me understand\u2014all too well\u2014what wine means (even for an ignoramus like me, who can\u2019t tell a Malagouzia from Assyrtiko)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n It means feelings, it means special moments, it means whatever you want to feel, whether or not you know about wine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let me tell you something:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t envy the \u2018wise ones\u2019 of wine and I\u2019m certainly not interested in becoming one of them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I am grateful to everyone who has been, is, and will be in my life, to disagree with me and call me out because I know nothing; who will say to me \u2018drink this, you\u2019ll love it\u2019 and share a glass of wine with me, full of feelings and emotions, no matter how cheap it is!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m not saying this to you, but I heard it for many, many years (and I still do, whenever we meet)\u2026 So, let’s take it from the beginning\u2026 (as much as we can, since the delight of emotions is\u2014whatever way you do it\u2014their disorder). I don\u2019t know much about wine, so my relationship with it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-blogging-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n