Wine is History
Friday, May 30, 2008 by Michal The Joggler KapralWine is a little bit of history in a bottle. It tells the story of the earth, the soil, the vines, the climate, the region in which the grapes were grown and the people who made it. Wine’s complexity of aromas and flavors also reveal a lot about your own personal history. Smells and tastes can trigger memory flashbacks. In fact, your entire palette is built solely on what you’ve tasted or smelled previously in your life. You can’t very well detect notes of gooseberry and cedar in a glass of Sauvignon Blanc if you’ve never eaten a gooseberry or smelled freshly cut cedar wood.
That’s what makes wine subjective and personal, but it also what makes wine so much fun to share with friends. When you describe a wine, you’re really talking about memories.
For each wine review, I’ll put the bottle in context with a bit of background on where the wine came from, then pour out my feelings about it on the page. If you agree or disagree, write a comment. Now, let’s get quaffing.
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Michal Kapral has been enjoying wine at home since way before he was of legal age. The editor-in-chief of Canadian Running magazine runs marathons to burn off all the calories he consumes on wine and cheese. Kapral spent some time living in Italy as a teenager, solidifying his appreciation for all things wine-related. In his days as a journalism student, he was likely one of the youngest – and poorest – subscribers to Wine Spectator magazine. In 1999, Kapral turned down a job at a winery to work at Captivate, where he spent 11 years as a news editor.