Kara Joseph - If Wine Could Talk

For my parents, Terri and Brad, who inspired my love of people and
wine. They taught me to truly see others, to share wines magic, and
to make life a grand adventure.

Introduction

Wine always had a way of speaking to me, even if I didnt quite understand what it was saying. Upon making a decision to spend my life pursuing wine, I began to hear it loud and clear. I knew it had to be more than a rich mans drink, a lifestyle trend, or just frivolous alcohol. I resolved it had a deeper meaning. In the years of trying to understand wines whole story, it ended up crafting mine.

If Wine Could Talk is the intertwining of two personal stories, one about wine and one about myself. My goal is to tell wines story in tandem with my own. In this way, I can give wine the authentic voice it deserves. I want you to learn about wine as I learned, little by little. Each Wine Talk section seeks to answer the most common questions and misconceptions Ive encountered in teaching wine throughout the years. You will gain a foundation of wine knowledge to build upon for years to come. More importantly, you can use wine to create your own story. Thats when wine comes full circle and why I live for it.

Why Wine?

Everyone has a story to tell, and wine happens to be mine. All wine people tend to have their romanticized tale of how it took hold of their lives. Most of them tell a glamorous story about the moment they decided it was their true passion. Sometimes you hear the one about them growing up with wine, or the one about the legendary bottle they tasted, or the one about traveling to exotic lands to taste the finest juice. Perhaps it would serve me well to have a regal account as to why wine matters so much to me.

I cant lie and say I knew it was special from my first sip, or during family trips to France, or by drinking iconic wines growing up. My wine origins were authentic and from a place of unexpected love. My passion for wine wasnt a huge epiphany, for that matter. It started as simply something that made me happy. The happiness it brought me turned into something more meaningful. My parents were responsible for this. They were the ones to ignite the embers inside me.

Like it or not, our parents have a deep effect on us. They provide the very basis for who we will be. They provide the lens through which we view the world. The part of my upbringing I admire most was my parents having us sit down to dinner together every night. Nowadays, families rarely have time to be together, let alone share a meal. I can still remember more laughs, stories, and warmth around our dinner table than anywhere else in the world. Even today, I would choose to b e sitting around my familys dining room table over visiting the most enchanting places in the world. I learned what was most important in life at our table. It seems almost fitting that was where I discovered my love of wine.

However, wine never had a profound presence in my parents lives while I was growing up. The earliest wine memories I have are of my mom always ordering Cabernet Sauvignon for family dinners out. Every time, without fail. My parents werent exactly what you would call wine connoisseurs during my childhood. They just werent in the epicenter of fine wine culture in Jacksonville, Florida. When I entered college, their eyes were about to be opened to a whole new wine world. They were able to travel more once their nest was completely empty. Their most adventurous trip up to that point had been to somewhere like the mountains of Tennessee. They finally made their way to California and Napa Valley. I thought it was an odd choice for my parents, but they took off for the West Coast.

My dad texted me pictures of all the beauty they experienced throughout the two weeks of their visit. I thought it all looked like something out of a dream. Upon their return, something was different about my mom and dad. Something had rubbed off on them during those two weeks in wine country. It seemed insane, but my parents lit up in a way I hadnt ever seen before when they would talk about their California adventure. The stories were full of sights, tastes, and wines. I loved every chance I had to soak up each story and feel some of the wonder they felt.

After their whirlwind trip wine graced our table more than ever before. It was as though the wine took my parents back to who they had been in Napafull of life. I can still see my mom and dad opening a bottle of Rombauer Chardonnay and twirling it around in their glasses. Closing their eyes, they would smell and taste the wine. It seemed as if this drink was bringing all the memories back. As I watched this transformation in my parents, wine started looking differently to me. Wine wasnt just booze anymore. In a way I didnt quite understand yet, it could transport people back to a time, a place, or an emotion.

During this Joseph family wine renaissance, I was a sophomore at the University of Florida. The only wine I experienced was on Penny Wine Nights at a local wing joint. The trashy spot would pack the place by charging a penny for a mini plastic cup of the cheapest wine they could find. It was my idea of a refined night out. Penny Wine Night consequently couldve spelled disaster for my future in wine. I experienced my first real hangover (I thought I was hit by a car the next morning) after spending about twenty-five cents one night. You can do the math on that one. Franzia was a staple, and cooking wine comprised the majority of my wine consumption. I certainly didnt care much about what filled my plastic cup at that point. Everyone has to start somewhere with wine. I started at the absolute bottom.

On trips home to visit my parents, I escaped the college garbage. In my eyes, I was experiencing the upper crust of wine with them. They had real glasses, the wine they poured didnt come out of a box, and they actually talked about the stuff instead of just slugging it back. My parents would give me little sips during my underage da ys. The baby tastes of California Chardonnay were my way into wine culture. Sitting around the table with my parents sharing wine brought me so much joy. In this small way, my parents cracked the door to the world of wine to me, ultimately shaping my future.

Honestly, I just loved being with my parents. They could have been talking about changing the oil in a car and I would have hung on every word. Seeing their eyes light up when they spoke of wine, I began to cherish this beverage, which was so meaningful to them. Every wine we sipped had something more behind it than just being a delicious liquid. Every new bottle brought stories of the vineyards theyd visited, how the wine was made, and how to taste it. We werent drinking the most elegant wine, and my parents werent experts, but those details didnt matter. I fell in love with sharing moments together over wine. Every taste evoked a sense of fascination within me.

After returning to college, no more boxed wine for me. I had graduated to at least ten-dollar bottles (because I was now an expert). In my mind, I had legitimate knowledge. I became the wine girl among my friends. I was always the first to host wine nights. My joie de vivre with wine was unstoppable. I would suggest a wine bar near campus so I could share all my wine prowess with fellow sophistication seekers. As I did this, I saw the same light in my friends eyes as Id had when I first began to appreciate it. I started to view this beverage as my way to affect people. I can still see the looks of intrigue on their faces when I would recite the five S s of wine tasting my parents had taught me. Granted, I knew nothing about what I was actually saying. I would tell everyone to see, swirl, smell, sip, and, most importantly, savor the wine. These words became my tagline, and I must have proudly repeated them nearly a hundred times.