Kakao Brunchbook 6th Publishing Project Special Award Winner
Wine flows into the Glencairn glass -- deep ruby radiance, bewitching color. Swirling the glass gently. A vibrant aroma flies into the nostrils. Thirst rushes in. Lifting the glass to the lips. Slowly tilting. Wine flows over the tongue. Sweetness and smoothness. Closing eyes, sketching an image. As with all things, "starting" is never an easy thing. Above all, one gets stuck at the "how" part. I was the same way. Too complicated and difficult to know where to begin -- how to approach it. The advice for starting wine: just start drinking; you do not need to understand everything before you begin -- the knowledge comes from the experience, not the other way around; read the label but do not be intimidated by unfamiliar terms; ask for recommendations at wine shops and restaurants without embarrassment; note what you liked and what you did not; the single most important thing is having an experience, then reflecting on it; wine knowledge accumulates through accumulated experience across many different wines, regions, and occasions. The broader principle: the fear of beginning anything unfamiliar often comes from the false belief that you must understand it before you can experience it; but for many kinds of knowledge, experience must precede understanding; you cannot understand what wine tastes like by reading about wine; you cannot understand what running feels like by reading about biomechanics; start imperfectly, learn from experience, refine over time.
