The other day I was introduced to someone as a local wine expert, and felt my cheeks redden immediately. I quickly clarified that, yes, wine is a big part of what I do for a living, but I never refer to myself as an expert. The only thing I hear when referred to that way is, Have you met Kurtis? Hes a local douchebag.
For me the connotation is a little too elitist and smug and, when it comes to wine, one of my favourite things is that theres always so much more to learn a new region, a new grape and so on. Over the last little while, when Ive been somewhere in a professional capacity, Ive ended up getting schooled, as the kids say. (Do the kids still say that?) In my mind, if youre an expert at something you dont continue to be schooled on a regular basis.
Top of mind was a few weeks back when I was one of the dozen or so judges for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Magazines annual Wine Awards. There we were, cloistered at a private downtown club for three days blind-tasting almost a thousand wines, taking notes, deliberating, debating and so on. On the final day, as veils were being lifted on our Best-Of category winners, the winning wine in the light white category was clearly labeled as a Picpoul.
Oh, a PICPOUL! half the room exclaimed. Thats so great. Who knew wed pick a Picpoul!
My cheeks reddened.
In my mind I knew that word, that grape (or was it an appellation?). It was French, I definitely knew it was French but, Hmmm Picpoul.
THINK, Kurtis!
I quickly tore apart cluttered shelves in the back of my mind, knowing it was there somewhere. I remembered the name from books and courses, but was drawing a blank. All Id taken note of as we blind tasted it was that it was incredibly zippy and lemony with some nice white floral notes.
The unveiling of wines continued, but the Picpoul conundrum ate at me. An hour later we wrapped things up, and were heading down the street for a nice post-wine-judging beer, a time-honoured tradition.
Ill meet you there in a sec!
Thankful for my iPhone and Wikipedia, I started tapping P-I-C-P
Ah, of course! No wonder I was torn; it is indeed a grape variety. Grown in Frances Rhône Valley, it can be light or dark skinned, and is a high-acid, citrusy grape thats one of the permitted varieties in Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. But it also makes its home in the Languedoc down in southern France, where there is indeed an appellation, or protected geographical designation, solely focused on the grape called Picpoul de Pinet. It felt good, dusting off those facts, shelved long ago due to lack of use or mention.
Within a week Id had a bottle at home, approaching the grape and wine style armed with my refreshed knowledge. How wonderful it was not to be an expert, but to have the excitement and enjoyable experience of a great new discovery. Its for that reason, and that excitement, that when it comes to wine, I truly enjoy that theres always something new to learn.
Now its your turn:
As it should be, the Omarine is chock-full of lemony notes, with fresh lime and nectarine, a sprig of white flowers, sharp minerality and crisp acidity. Best with oysters, scallops and a host of fried snacks. Zippy and delicious.
