Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

I’ve had a couple days without focusing on wine.  Saturday after work, we had an Asian themed meal with sake’ and Sunday was spent in Sacramento with Mexican fare.  We even skipped stopping by Total Wine due to lack of enthusiastic reviews and my flare-up of what I found out yesterday was achilles tendonitis (I didn’t want to browse up and down aisles limping and looking for what wasn’t there).  And I didn’t prep for my Society of Wine Educators meeting last night where we were blind tasting 12 red varieties.  So for me, that’s a lack of wine, even though you might be shaking your head a bit…not even two full days.

It’s helpful to get perspective when it comes to me and what I know about wine.  Sometimes I think I know nothing. Sometimes I think that I’ve got a pretty good handle on the situation, especially compared to where I was two years ago.  But when I feel the first way, I can get pretty down on myself.  That’s what I did last week at the SWE meeting, where I only got 4 out of 7 correct.  Last night my id rate was 50%, but I didn’t feel nearly as bad about it.  I think it was because I realized more what I know and what I don’t. Surprisingly, the French wines were pretty easy, which I guess they should be after having a few tastings from different appellations.  Italy and Australia, however, definitely need work.  But the whole thing made me realize that things are sticking despite my increasing inability to remember facts long term. It’s not all a waste. 

Now, if I could just work on my pronunciation.