Page 37 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 37
face
This book is aimed at all those who wish to know more about wine. Many people wonder
why there is so much talk about wine, what is the point of the special legislation pertaining
to wine, why statesmen after the completion of talks toast each other with wine, and so on.
In this book I thus wish to throw some light on what wine is and on its significance past
and present. I would also like to make clear the abundance of wine’s components, over a
thousand of which have so far been identified. Moreover, I wish to help readers acquaint
themselves with wine through other written sources and through practical learning about
the wealth of wine’s aromas and flavours. And last but not least, I wish to show ways of
improving wine drinking habits.
The book is not written in a uniform way: it is not technical, although it touches upon
many technical issues, and it is not only popular, although the genre of popular writing
helped me tremendously with individual descriptions. Wine experts will perhaps criticise
my approach, even say that the book contains a great deal of historical data in comparison
to the amount of attention paid to the current state of the discipline and its new directions.
The main wine components barely get a mention, while there is a great deal of emphasis on
aroma. While technological procedures (for example, the traditional method) are talked about
very briefly, there is a detailed description of the technology involved in the production of
barrique wines. In the portrayal of wine routes, I do not dwell as much on the description of
wines as I do on the description of local cultural sites. This is all true. The book’s emphasis
does not lie merely in the kind of technical presentation typical of wine literature, as I am
assuming that those who become interested in wine after reading this book will reach for
the extensive literature on, for example, the composition of wine, the methods involved
in the production of wine, on the sensory evaluation of wine, and so on.
My purpose is to encourage readers to want to learn more about wine, to value it more
and to enjoy its richness and variety. This will help them to improve their view of wine’s
quality. In this way the book will achieve its goal. It presents my personal view of wine
acquired through fifty years of working in oenology, but it does not state an eternal truth.
That would, of course, be mistaken.
33
This book is aimed at all those who wish to know more about wine. Many people wonder
why there is so much talk about wine, what is the point of the special legislation pertaining
to wine, why statesmen after the completion of talks toast each other with wine, and so on.
In this book I thus wish to throw some light on what wine is and on its significance past
and present. I would also like to make clear the abundance of wine’s components, over a
thousand of which have so far been identified. Moreover, I wish to help readers acquaint
themselves with wine through other written sources and through practical learning about
the wealth of wine’s aromas and flavours. And last but not least, I wish to show ways of
improving wine drinking habits.
The book is not written in a uniform way: it is not technical, although it touches upon
many technical issues, and it is not only popular, although the genre of popular writing
helped me tremendously with individual descriptions. Wine experts will perhaps criticise
my approach, even say that the book contains a great deal of historical data in comparison
to the amount of attention paid to the current state of the discipline and its new directions.
The main wine components barely get a mention, while there is a great deal of emphasis on
aroma. While technological procedures (for example, the traditional method) are talked about
very briefly, there is a detailed description of the technology involved in the production of
barrique wines. In the portrayal of wine routes, I do not dwell as much on the description of
wines as I do on the description of local cultural sites. This is all true. The book’s emphasis
does not lie merely in the kind of technical presentation typical of wine literature, as I am
assuming that those who become interested in wine after reading this book will reach for
the extensive literature on, for example, the composition of wine, the methods involved
in the production of wine, on the sensory evaluation of wine, and so on.
My purpose is to encourage readers to want to learn more about wine, to value it more
and to enjoy its richness and variety. This will help them to improve their view of wine’s
quality. In this way the book will achieve its goal. It presents my personal view of wine
acquired through fifty years of working in oenology, but it does not state an eternal truth.
That would, of course, be mistaken.
33
