Cum am ajuns jurat în concursuri de vinuri

About 7-8 years ago, over a beer (several), I met Cezar Ioan, the man who would become one of my best friends. In 2019, the GastroArt publishing house printed his volume "Connaisseur without ifose - everything you want to know about wine and something more". Back then, on the fourth cover of the book, I wrote the following (statements that still stand today, even though I participated in several less cinnamony tastings):

"As an editor, I am happy to be able to launch a volume about wines with an initiatory role, addressed, above all, to those who want to discover this fabulous universe. So often, the world of wine connoisseurs is too hermetic, elitist (even snobby) and intimidating. Well, these lines make it accessible and are a sincere invitation to empirical discoveries of wines with some knowledge about them. As a friend, I find in Caesar's book the hundreds of hours of discussions through which I became familiar with

elementary notions. I thank them in this way for their patience. I was exactly one of those he talks about at the beginning of the text: an individual who didn't think he would ever be able to differentiate wines even by somewhat more subtle criteria. Well, today I can perceive secondary aromas. Until a new edition, I hope to feel the tertiary ones as well".

Finally, to finish with the chronologies, a few days ago I was sworn in the vinul.ro contest that took place at Casa Timiș (you must go there for the food and the atmosphere). The vinul.ro excellence awards, as well as the GastroArt excellence awards, will be announced on Sunday, October 3, at the National Gastronomy and Wine Day Gala, also at Casa Timiș.

Cum got here!

First of all I have to say that I was the most inexperienced juror in the competition. Everything has a beginning. My experience in the field, compared to the experts next to me, is somewhere below the wine that stains the bottom of the decanter before putting it in the dishwasher. Winemakers, sommeliers, oenologists, authorized and unauthorized tasters with thousands and tens of thousands of active labels.

You should know that I have refused Cezar before (just as I also refused my friend Vasile Ghimpu for a Bacchus, I think the one from 2019). I wasn't ready, not even mentally. I reject all opportunities that would exaggerate my skills. It's not about accuracy, it's about experience in the field. I am disgusted by the hypocrisy and see past my nose. For these reasons, on my page you see 99% posts only from the gastronomic area. It's not a small thing to know (at least a little) about such an offering field.

And I'm done with the ash in my head because it doesn't characterize me. The last five years meant dozens of tastings, dozens of wineries visited, hundreds (thousands) of wines tasted. Vertical, horizontal, oblique, random... i.e. comparative tastings by varieties, years, regions, price levels or simply without a certain conceptual meaning (for example tasting 60 wines for a pre-selection for retail).

I am an individual who buys wines (without overloading my fb and instagram with pictures) and who does not get involved in the discussions of the big ones on various resort groups. He follows them in silence or talkatively (but at home) that wine makes me even more talkative (if I can be more talkative than I am). I buy from both retail and specialty stores. I don't drink beer at the restaurant (for beer I have enough bars that I frequent). And I often go to the restaurant.

I learned from books and empirically. I broke dozens of glasses. I made a wine menu for my defunct restaurant based on my taste buds and inspiration as a manager.

Cezar also explained to me another side of this story. The opinion of a long-term consumer (and even with decision-making power in building a wine menu) is important. Not decisive, but worth considering. Sometimes the ivory tower of connoisseurs must choose like the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the grassroots taste. They may have surprises. So I accepted and was sworn in. An experience I want to repeat. Just like skydiving.

The cool part is that I wasn't even there. The overwhelming majority of my tasting notes were there with no major discrepancies. Looks like I'm getting the hang of it. Bașca, I added about 50 more wines to the collection of those tasted. There's still a long way to go, but I'm persevering. And for that today I'm going to take advantage of the autumn heat and open two white ones. Of import.