The drawbacks of living
S3 E2 | Not only a great book by Peter Cameron, but also the subtitle of my 2025, which so far is about about money flying out of my pocket and fairs I didn't attend thanks to Trenitalia.
Ciao! I'm Giulia and this is the third season of the Intergalactic Guide for Wine Explorers: the newsletter that helps you connect the dots in the wine universe, a couple of bottles / songs / words / random stories / links per month.
I will try to translate all previous episodes, but it is going to take some time, as I’m not that fluent in English anymore.
🚀 More than a great book
Most of regions in Italy have their own dialect: in Tuscany we don’t.
However, we have a huge quantity of words and sayings that only we Tuscans understand, and all the foreigners who’ve been living here for quite a long time.
We bend the Italian language to our own peculiar pronunciation and our cadence, to be able to enunciate it with a greater sense of ease and comfort: I’d have many examples to show, if you understand Italian a bit you might enjoy reading this episode in Italian.
My point is: we Tuscans are as good at bending our mothertongue to our feelings, as we all are geniuses in hindsight - or rather, just as everyone else is a genius compared to us in hindsight. And they never miss a chance to let us know.
Citing an anecdote that could, or could not, be real:
“While in reverse I hit the side of my car against a pole and now I have to change both the car door and side mirror”
“Gosh Giulia, try and pay more attention while driving, will you?”
Thanks A LOT for the insight, I didn’t know I had to be careful while driving. I actually enjoy driving around on the highway with a smashed door and the rearview mirror dancing YMCA in front of my very eyes.
I would like to introduce a brand new column, called “how not to be a total ASS to thy neighbor”: from now on, instead of making the person in front of us feel even more stupid than they already feel, let’s try to give our contribution differently.
Going back to the example above, whether it is true or false. Another way to respond to the anecdote could be: “Giulia, did you crash in reverse, smashing the card door and the mirror? Oh, you say that when you parked there that morning the pole wasn’t there? That’s definitely the case, I believe you. Why don’t you drink a glass to relax? I recommend this wine…”
Or it could be: why don’t you read this book, it was a great deal of comfort to me. Or: I recommend you try to cook this dish, it’s the ultimate comfort food. Or: listen to this album, the production is out of this world. And so on.
Everyone has their own area of expertise, mine is certainly not cooking, or music (Orietta Berti is actually an icon) and even less books (I only read dramas lately, I still have to recover from The Vegetarian by Han Kang) – but I can try with wine.
Looking at my reflection in the smooth glass of bottles always brings me back down to earth: in the green-ish reflection, which I find SO reassuring, I always get a grasp of my feelings, going through the darkness of my pupils, and lead myself back home.
🪐 Drawbacks? Drink this
🍾 Ghirada Cara Gonare by Teularju | 100% Cannonau
🦞 When to drink it: you wake up one morning super happy because you’re going to attend a wine fair / visit a beautiful place / to visit someone you love; moments later you discover that the National Train System has called a national strike with no guaranteed trains.
🎮 For my wine nerds:
Produced in limited quantities (6000 bottles), this wine is a concentrate of elegance and expressive power; as you might guess by reading the label, this wine is produced in the “Ghirada Cara Gonare”. In the Sardinian tradition, the “ghirada” is a vineyard parcel delimited by walls or headlands.
As we can see in the map below (taken from the company website) the winery has four different “ghirada”, each with its own characteristics.
🎷 Abuelita, Hermanos Gutiérrez Spotify | YouTube
In a blind tasting I would have probably called it a Pinot Noir and in fact blind tasting is not really my craft; however, it was like mistaking a voleé by Sinner with one by Alcaraz - a mistake that, considering the mixture of confusion and admiration that derives from watching two absolute champions grappling with the technical gesture - I consider forgivable.
This wine is multifaceted, surprising, bright, with notes of dried mushrooms; to destroy any chrism we paired it with a vegan ramen with more mushrooms than broth. Comfort food at its finest.
☄️ Drawbacks? Drink this
🍾 Riesling 2021 “Petershöhle” di Weingut Seckinger | 100% Riesling
🦞 When to drink it: when you pay €536 to repair you car and you start to think that instead of “not drinking and driving” it's better to “drink and never drive again”.
🎮 For my wine nerds:
As in the case of the Cannonau mentioned above, “Petershöhle” is the name of the parcel where this extraordinary Riesling is grown. These two wines do not only share an incredible expressive power, but also the provenance from a specific parcel which, due to its characteristics - in this case we are talking about steep terraces on arid, sandstone soil - is ideal for that specific vine.
🎷 Diamond Jubilee, Cindy Lee YouTube
This wine is able to fill your mouth without weighing it down, to occupy space and time in your mind, to leave an everlasting mark: what more can you possibly want from a Riesling with such hydrocarbons notes? Maybe just to be like that yourself, sometimes; kind but fierce.
💫 Wine for thoughts
They say that experience is the best teacher, in fact my first boss - in my previous life when I was employed as an export manager - in order to explain to me the smell of hydrocarbons, once asked me:
“Giulia, have you ever had to suddenly brake on the highway? Well, after doing so, you would recognize hydrocarbons everywhere”
And, funny enough, he was right: even today I cannot find a better definition for this characteristic scent, so unique in the right doses and so repellent when in excess.
What is it due to?
Hydrocarbons notes are due to an aromatic component that in minimal percentages can be found in many vines; it can be found in very high percentages instead, in Riesling.
The aromatic component responsible for these scents is called “1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene”, in short “TDN”.
This component is the result of the degradation of carotenoids: these are fundamental components in plants, which help in the process of chlorophyll photosynthesis.
While degrading, these carotenoids can (produce the non-volatile precursors of TDN, such C13-norisoprenoids, which in turn can) produce TDN.
What are the main factors that influence the formation of TDN?
• Exposure to sunlight (the more sunlight hours, the more carotenoids will be produced)
• The maturity of the grapes (think of late harvests, with low yields)
• The acidity level of the grapes (the higher the acidity, the higher the TDN)
• Water stress
• Soils that retain heat easily
• The age of the wine (it is much easier to find this aroma in aged Rieslings)
So, based on the theory and information available to us, why did our Riesling have such intense hydrocarbons notes?
First of all, the vintage, 2021: the concentration of TDN can increase with age;
The geographical origin: with the rising temperatures and the defoliation that is typically carried out in Germany immediately after flowering (to protect the grapes from humidity) the bunches receive much more heat and sunlight;
And this is what I know about hydrocarbons which, after all, are nothing more than a drawback of living; most of the time avoided, thanks to careful management of the grapes in the vineyard.
🪐 Have you ever wondered how to take your first steps in exploring the world of wine, without the typical awe that goes with it?
I am shaping the Intergalactic Guide for Wine Explorers into a series of evenings dedicated to the discovery of one’s personal taste, an introduction to wine that does not aim to train future sommeliers, but conscious drinkers: taking the first step and nurturing one’s curiosity for a conscious approach to wine.
🛰️ Update: I'm still working on the wine selection and the definition of the landing page. I have to admit that I thought this would be the easiest step and instead it’s kind of the hardest one. It all seems quite uphill going forward but I'm not giving up 🫡
👉🏻 For obvious reasons, the course is only going to be in Italian. But if you still would like to give me suggestions or hints to help me build it, I would be immensely grateful. You can do so by leaving a comment or sending me a DM on Instagram.
🌒 Links worth sharing
This article by Seven Fifty Daily talks about old vines: what is the connection between the quality of a wine and the age of the vines?
The connection between Japan and California: obviously through the lens of wine. An interesting read on Food & Wine.
How beautiful is it to safeguard the immense variety of grapes we have in Italy? This article tells the story of a winery that saved a specific autochthonous grape from Tuscany: Pugnitello.
🌍 Q&A
Do you have a question for me but don't have Substack to leave a comment? Would you like to talk about something specific? Or perhaps recommend me a botte of wine, or a winery to visit?
📨 Send me an email, I always gladly answer!
That's it for this month: thank you very much for your time.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Intergalactic Guide for Wine Explorers, you could share it with your friends or acquaintances who might also be interested in the project:
If you have anything to ask, or doubts, you know where to find me: I’m always happy to talk about wine, down below in the comments section, or on Instagram.
Until next time.
Ciao!