Following Philippe

Following Philippe...

The truth, they say, is in the wine. Anyone who has had more than his or her fair share of a bottle (or two, or three) can attest to the validity of that statement. After awhile, the truth just flows out of your mouth like the wine flows out of the bottle. The world is your glass, but someone has forgotten to put a stopper in the bottle.

Or maybe that's just me. While I can on occasion be the mysterious, silent type, nothing can as quickly turn me into a babbling idiot than an unhealthy portion of alcohol. What can I say? I enjoy my drinks.

So why a blog about wine? I am definitely not a wine expert, nor do I pretend to be one. I also have no interest in trying become an expert on the level of a Robert Parker, although I think there's a lot I can learn from the man with the million dollar nose. To be frank, I wouldn't even consider myself a connoisseur, but more of an avid wine drinker with delusions of grandeur.

The goal here is to have fun while giving myself a good justification to explore different wines from all over the world (and hopefully explore a few wineries, as well). I have been thinking of doing something like this for awhile, but I've been concerned about how to work wine writing into my regular blog. I feel I would bore my readers with detail upon detail of my efforts in becoming an educated wine drinker, and since I'm really doing this for myself, I thought it would be prudent to remove this from the inanity of regular ramblings and give it its own space.

So why the name Following Philippe? The answer to that question is fairly simple, even if it does require a quick explanation. Although it has only been in the last year I have been trying to truly educate myself on the process of making wine and what makes a good wine, I have enjoyed a specific wine for many years -- Philippe de Rothschild's Merlot. I believe the first vintage I ever drank was 1998 or 1999, bought right out of the LCBO and consumed a short while later.

Prior to my introduction to Baron de Rothschild, my only exposure to wine had been the various whites (mostly from Kressman) that my parents drank once or twice a year on special occasions. As I have never developed a taste for white wine, it was the baron's Merlot that changed the world of wine for me. So in that regards, ever since -- to paraphrase Kevin Smith -- I've been Following Philippe.

posted by Chris @ 5:29 PM