WINE AND ME
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of no fortune must be in want of some wine!
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My Story
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I’m a 23-year-old wine lover, living and working in the South East of England. In the summer of 2019, I got my first wine job at Chapel Down Vineyard in Tenterden, Kent. I work on the tourism side of the business as a tour and tasting guide. While my professional journey into wine is still very young, my passion for wine goes back further.
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It all starts with the Loire Valley in France. Growing up, the Loire was our holiday destination of choice. So, for two weeks we drove down with an empty trailer. Why an empty trailer you ask? My parents are avid wine drinkers, so we went wine tasting and the purchases filled the trailer up for the journey home. The theory was the wine they’d bought would see them through to the following years holiday. In reality, it never did! I started joining in with the tastings as soon as I was allowed. As a result, I have a soft spot for Loire wines and they’ll feature relatively regularly on this page and my Instagram. However, studying for my WSET Level 2 and Level 3 exams over the winter made me realise how many other amazing wines are out there for me to explore and, more importantly, quaff.
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Why Blog?
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That’s all well and good, but why blog about it? Put simply, wine is something I am deeply passionate about and I’d like to share my passion with you.
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All over the world, more established winemaking and drinking nations have a deep emotional connection to their wines. This is something that has become ingrained in their culture over hundreds or thousands of years. As a nation, we are still new to drinking wine and even newer to making it. Consequently, we don’t have a deep-rooted connection to wine in the same way, just yet!
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However, things are changing very quickly. If you’d gone into a pub 60 years ago and asked for a glass of wine, you’d have been laughed out the door! Or if it was a posh pub you might have got the choice of red or white. In contrast, wine is the most popular alcoholic drink in the UK, as of last year. Not just as a whole, but in every age group as well. On the winemaking front, we’ve gone from struggling to produce average still wines made from obscure German varieties to gaining a reputation for premium bubbly that successfully competes with the very best of the world, in 30 years.
In this age of the internet and social media, we have a fantastic opportunity to help shape this part of our cultural identity. I truly believe, by sharing my love of wine, I can play my part in doing this.
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Most importantly though, wine is entertainment. Wine is meant to be fun, whatever it is and however you’re drinking it. Wine is about the stories of people and place behind the making of it and the stories we tell when we drink it.
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So, grab yourself a glass of something tasty and let’s go and have some fun! Who knows, we might even learn a thing or two along the way.
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