On The Road To Becoming A Master Of Wine: First On-Ramp, Thinking Twice

I haven't been in a classroom, taking a course, in nearly 30 years! I never went to college, and I actually left high school in my senior year. So, why am I now taking the Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center, Level 2: A Comprehensive Survey of Wine, Spirits, and Beer at Boston University? Well, the primary reason is that the instructor for this course is Bill Nesto, MW along with Sandy Block, MW. To train under two Masters of Wine is the main reason I decided to jump back into formal training and take this course. I have been to two classes at this point and while I think the course will offer a valuable structured means of learning I can't help but notice a couple of things that remind me of what I disliked about school in the first place.

The first is pace. Self-studying, which is the way I have always learned best, is all about pace and of course, degree of interest. With self-study, you spend more time on the things that you fail to grasp and less time on the things that come easy. In the classroom I find that a few topics are covered in too much detail, while others are lightly touched on. This can be rectified in two ways. One is to ask the instructor questions about topics that you need more breadth on. The problem I have with this is me. I am hesitant to have the instructor expand a point that perhaps the rest of the class doesn't care to have elaborated. I don't want to waste someone else's time. This is something that some of the other students apparently don't have qualms about, and ask questions that I usually find tangential at best. The other way to rectify this, is to go home and study the points that need elaboration. This, however, is a good argument for self-study.

The second is me. I just don't like how I perform in groups. I shy away from participating in groups. I think twice before answering a question posed to the class, even when I know the answer. Example from last night, and I am paraphrasing here, "What are the two main things a grape vine is concerned with?" Making food for itself and trying to reproduce, I think to myself, but don't offer up, and I sit through various answers that are not altogether wrong but not what Bill was looking for. I am thinking two, three and even four times before speaking and then the moment is gone, the teacher answers the question. I did manage to speak a couple of times during class, but not without heart palpitations. If nothing else I hope this course teaches me how to speak freely and comfortably in front of, or within groups.

After class I went to a nearby restaurant for a glass of wine or two and some tapas. Taberna de Haro in Brookline was a place that I had been itching to get to, but never found a good opportunity. I had a glass of Lustau, Don Nuno, Dry Oloroso (nice and nutty, moderate richness, a nice start) and a glass of Luna Beberide, Bierzo, made from the mencia grape (very primary, ripe red berries with a tang, and minerality). The tapas were excellent, a "chorizo butter" on toast and red peppers stuffed with brandada (a potato and cod mixture). I also chatted with Deborah Hansen, chef/owner for most of my time there. A very interesting and gracious hostesss, with formidable wine knowledge, she has put together an all Spanish wine list that is quite impressive. I will most certainly go back to sample more food soon and I recommend it to all.

After leaving the restaurant, and heading for my car parked on busy Beacon St., I passed a guy urinating in the street into a drain. "Wow, that's really nice buddy! You couldn't find a better place to do that? Fucking drunk!", I shouted at him. Why? Why didn't I think twice about that one? Maybe because he wasn't in a group or maybe the wine I had was acting as liquid courage. As I get into my car he comes up to the driver side door and starts shouting something, so, not taking my eyes of him or his hands (not that this would help if things got ugly), I roll down the window four inches to hear what he has to say (not that I should care). He asks (in a drunken way) if all my decisions in life have led to a happy life. I say "mostly" and he continues to ask if I am happy with what I said to him, I say "mostly". Then he says "Well, maybe next time you will think twice." He actually says that twice, and shuffles off. I probably should have thought twice about that entire encounter. I probably should have said nothing. In class I probably should have spoken more. Someday, I hope to get this right.