Hidden Talent

It’s funny how in the most unarticulated ways a #hidden #talent comes up.

My so called “talent” (disregarding the whole concept of the word) would be to be a wine taster. I mean, everybody can actually taste wine, we all agree on that, but, in my particular case, the way that this started was a little bit tragic and yet funny. So here it goes…

One upon a time, a long long time ago, back in the year 2015, I was starting a 3 months trial on a company that I was expecting to develop my career based on my university studies. At that time, I was still averaging my career and that job represented a lot. But unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as planned. When I least expected I was #laidoff.

Yeap, my whole world was torn apart. I just didn’t know what to do, it was officially my first dismissal. The only thing that came at that time was crying a lot.

So, I soon talk to my parents to let them know my current job situation. They were on vacation in Córdoba at the moment, when suddenly my father told me: “Ok, don’t worry. Why don’t you come to Córdoba instead and join us?

I thought he was crazy. I was all alone, I had to take care of my dog, I was disoriented. So, my father insisted and told me, “Tell your sister to do it, she can handle it, she won’t mind!” Afterwards, I talked to my sister, she really didn’t mind, she understood my emotional situation and she did me a favor.

In a heartbeat, I was travelling on a bus on my way to Córdoba. When I’ve reached the final bus station, I felt automatically relieved. My parents along with my grandmother went to pick me up and as I least expected I was in a beautiful cabin surrounded by trees, a giant garden, and lots of hills around it. It was paradise.

But now you may be wondering, where is this mysterious hidden talent?

It was on a rainy-day afternoon. Against all odds, Córdoba is a really hot province in summertime. But, in this case, we had several rainy, cloudy and stormy weather. As we had difficulties to warm us up, my father lit the fireplace and he handed me a glass of wine to heat my body. I automatically refused.

But he insisted. Once again, he explained to me that, even though I didn’t like wine, I was good enough to have at least one drink to warm me up and stop suffering that horrible weather outside and inside the cabin. He was right.

So, I gave it a sip on it and it was awful, ha ha!

Who would have thought that it was going to be the ice-breaker of a hidden talent?

Time went by, and I started to drink sip by sip with the passing of the days. It still was awful. But my palate was beginning to get use to the taste, to its texture, to the experience of having just a simple amount of wine in my glass.

In 2019, I took a course at a wine school. They taught me how to define a wine, to identify its parts, the meaning of “terroir”, the different tastes, colors, textures, flavors, and so on. I had lots of wine tasting classes and also started to write some wine tasting notes about the wines that they presented to us. It was a great experience. Now, the wine wasn’t just a simple sip at the bottom of the glass, it was a way of pairing my food better, to learn how to join flavors and discover new ones, it was really gratifying and satisfying feeling.

Soon I started to think that maybe I could be capable of doing such a thing. I mean, to become a wine expert. Maybe…a sommelier!

This self-motivation begun to materialize when I finally decided to join once again that wine school place, I did the course at back in 2019. So, by the year 2021, I officially started the Sommelier career.

Within 1 year taken already, I’ve discovered a whole new world, just Disney’s Aladdin!

I learn about #enology, geography, #appellations of origin, the requirements of certain strains of wines depending of its place of origin, the legal normative, and the most challenging and unknown thing for me, sensory evaluation and service. This subject was all about detailing a wine tasting notes, similar to the label that you may find at the back of the bottle of the wine, and protocol, this means, to set the table with the wine glasses, water glasses, the #gueridon on the side, and all the elements that you need to provide the correct service to the clients you’re going to attend.

So, this hidden talent was putting me to the test, but I just loved it. Because, what would be the sense of all of this, if we didn’t find ourselves with a little bit of a challenge?

Recently, I had the most amazing experience. My partners and I had the incredible opportunity to travel to #mendoza province and visit at least 10 wineries. Just to name a few: Catena Zapata, Rutini Wines, López Wineries, Norton Wineries, Salentein, Durigutti Wines, Séptima Winery, among others.

It was a full equipped itinerary, almost 12 hours long trip between each and every one of them each day. It was astonishing. The landscapes, the views, the restaurants, the wine shops, but most of all, the enologist, and the professionals that accompanied us throughout the experience.

We could have a deep view of the vinification process and techniques, how the wine really was made from bottom to top, until we can finally see it in the bottle. Sometimes we are not conscious enough of how starting from a simple grape cluster we get the chance to see the transformation into one of the most complex flavors of all: the #wine.

The food was another strong point of the excursions, we were so well received, that we couldn’t believe our eyes. The best #paring with the best wines. From sparkling ones, to white ones, as Chardonnay, then to the red ones, such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and such. Great products lines, with such an excellence and well presented.

All along this wonderful journey, something caught my attention. I felt lot of modesty and simplicity from all the wine experts that gave us all the attention and time to explain to us the steps of the winemaking process. One might think that an “expert” should be distant, serious, unfriendly, with the only concern to say as little as possible, but none of this happened. Instead, this people were warm, nice, really enjoyable people that cared and concerned that we all were at ease with their talks. I even had the opportunity to share a meal with the López Winery enologist, and I felt so comfortable with him, that sometimes I thought I was just simply talking to a friend.

So, this is it. This is how experts handle, this is how knowledge is shared. And this is what’s really like when you find something you like and enjoy and you want others to feel the same way as you do. This is what’s all about. This is my hidden talent.