There’s something special about writing when you know nobody is watching…yet. And there’s something strangely thrilling about posting your thoughts online…where anyone could see it.
First posts are weird. To speak your truth and live to regret the cringe? Or keep things polished, purely entertaining…but disconnected? Let’s treat this first post as a bookmark of where I’m at.
The Good…coz this year has been good:
I’ve finally finished the WSET Diploma….that was a rollercoaster of emotions that I am immeasurably relieved to have disembarked. You know those people who handle life with grace and dignity? Ja nee (yes no), that’s not where I landed.
It started with excitement: fluttering flittering butterflies, lofty goals, a few frown line inducing concerns about achieving those goals, but determined excitement at the challenge that awaited. Slow, uphill climbs in the form of early morning and late night study sessions. Peaks of fear on nights before exams. Clear calm descending as you hover at the crest waiting for the exam paper to be dropped on your desk. The rush of free-fall vomiting everything your brain can conjure up that (mostly) relates to the exam questions. The adrenalin high that lasts for exactly 30 minutes post exam…until the next lecture starts. And the exhilarating whoosh of relief after passing. Up and down, up and down for 2.5 years. Immeasurably relieved to be done. There are some tips and groans over on the blog.
For years I’d heard people rave about the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy: the life altering experience, the opportunity to taste wines they’d never dreamed of tasting, and the perspective it shone on wine. Not to mention the opportunity to become a wine judge.
3 days, 255 wines, 2 x birth year wines (and my birth year is tricky!). It was life altering. I did taste wines I’d never dreamed of being able to taste. And it leant a little more perspective (I was already a mega fan of older wines). It was an incredible experience that I’ve written about here. What it didn’t do was teach me how to judge…but I wonder how much this has to do with my natural hesitancy at assigning numbers to something that I view as art. Imagine walking into a gallery and shouting out scores at the paintings and sculptures. Critique them, comment on them, consider their value and place in your life. But giving them a score out of 100, 10, or 20 doesn’t sit right with me. Which left me questioning whether I’d offer any value to a wine judging panel. Kinda funny…coz I love to judge!
Which leads us onto
the not so good…
Aka the inevitable question, ‘what next?’.
I’d always laughed at the ‘pie in the sky’ idea of finding half a million rand for the MW program. I knew it wasn’t for me. I don’t work in the wine industry with an employer who would fund this ultimate test. I was not born into wealth. And my career choice as a freelance graphic designer is, in wine hindsight, less financially suited to the tuition, travel and wine costs that are expected of this program. In fact, I lost my job last month…so erm zero financial suitability!
I am also kicking myself for not excelling at the WSET Diploma and giving myself a shot at the bursaries and awards. I always tell people who aren’t blessed with generational wealth that your brain, hard work and enthusiasm will get you where you want to be. My brain (and frustrated emotions) failed me. There’s a deep sense of regret at not discovering erm Enjoy Discovering Wine sooner…rather than the much later few weeks before my final D3 exam. And these feelings have me realising that I would like to progress to joining the MW program.
It’s sort of why I’ve started this newsletter. I don’t want you to fund me. But I am exploring whether I can add enough value to the wine industry to, not only give me wine related experience to be accepted into the MW program, but potentially fund it. That’s your fair warning that there may, eventually, be some sponsorships or ads 😂!
Comment below: where are you in your wine journey?
(and do you have any generational wealth that you’d like to share 😂)
Anyway…that’s enough of my personal ramblings. This will, hopefully, be amusing to look back on in a year. Thanks for taking the time to read this 🍷❤️.