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. Sitting at the dining table, opening one wine. A wine kept in the wine cellar for about a month -- the impression from a wine bar with an acquaintance last month. The author reflects on the experience of missing someone and how wine becomes a connector to that memory -- a specific bottle associated with a specific person or moment; when you open that bottle alone, you are not simply drinking wine, you are accessing the memory of the person and occasion associated with it; wine as memory trigger: scent is the sense most closely connected to memory (the olfactory nerve has direct access to the limbic system which processes emotion and memory); a wine aroma can transport you instantly to a past moment with specific people; the experience of longing is not simply about the absent person but about the past self who was present with them; wine in this context serves as a time machine that makes the absent temporarily present through sensory memory.
