two Suedes, politics and some German wine

I kind of just want to leave the title and not write anything. It says enough...

I'm studying for this sommelier test, yes? And it's a phenomenal amount of information... I practically need to step it up to grad school level commitment; 4 hours of focused study today barely got me through Burgundy. How people with jobs are getting ready for this class, I have no clue.

Except maybe, JUST maybe, they are participating in the learning process. By that, I mean tasting the wines. This occurred to me today and I decided to see what the local Polebridge Mercantile might have to offer. Perhaps a California Pinot Noir or an Australian Shiraz. And, or, as I've been craving, for no good reason whatsoever (except perhaps because I am staying with a German man), a German Riesling (I find these sorts of out-of-the-way Polebridge-ish type places to be manifesting vortexes. Best to just hope for the best).

So I walked a full 1/4 mile to this lovely two story, red wood, bakery-based store, the center of this town, with all my books and set myself to study, and peruse their wine. Much, MUCH to my surprise, there were two German bottles on the shelf, both for $3. I asked the store clerk why they were so inexpensive and she said it must be a mistake. Turns out the owner got them for cheap and decided to pass them on as such. I bought them and took them back to the hostel. Oliver (the owner) said he'd help me try them. Then a Swedish couple arrived and they agreed to assist as well (after their beer and double shot of Scotch.) (I say Swedish because that's where they live. Truly, the man is Irish and the woman, 1/2 German). I broke out my wine book and began to decode the labels:

Auslese Rheinhessen- a select harvest wine, picked when the grapes are very ripe (the riper the grapes, higher on German hierarchy the wine. It's such a cold region, they assert riper grapes mean a better year or better South-facing slope {according to my wine book}); picked in select bunches and somewhat expensive ($3?!); made only in the best years when the summers are warm enough, from the Rheinhessen region. Variety of grape: unknown.

Riesling Pflaz- Riesling varietal from the Pfalz region. Quality is so-so.

Both are 10% alcohol, somewhat high for Germany.

I opened them as the Swedes cooked their dinner (bacon, tomato, eggs and sausage all in one pan. THAT'S multitasking) and Oliver took some Riesling with me. We all cheered our separate beverages. One sip and I opened the propane fridge for my sharp cheddar and raspberry jam: this was a *sweet* wine. But good. There was acidity too and a very beautiful undercurrent of green apple. After shoveling cheese and jam into my mouth with one ounce of Riesling, I tried the other bottle. Even sweeter, heavier and more complex- honesysuckle, red apple and... gasoline? We all began talking. About health care, Obama, corporations, income, taxes, television, good radio, school loans and the like. It was easy, we all agreed and built upon our varying points of view. After 40 minutes of conversation, I learned the Swedish woman (Eva) was a dentist and her husband, Dan, was an anesthetician. They talked about their professions like they were English degrees. I felt my mind expand. More wine was poured and by now, everyone was drinking it, giving their input, woven with table conversation. My head when light, then hot and happy. The wine became a part of the learning, a part of the social, a part of my food and all my senses- the feel of the tiny juice glass to my teeth and lips, the cool sensation of the thick wine across my tongue, the sounds of conversation, the apple notes in my nose and the sweetness on my taste buds. They became a part of me, and me, perhaps, a part of them.

Not likely, any time soon, that I'll be forgetting Auslese or why this classification of wine is so coveted for its complexity. Or how a Riesling can be both sweet and biting, not just cloying like they often are from California. Wrapping oneself in the experience brands the memory in a whole new way. I still have 4 regions in France, all of Spain, Italy and the entire New World to cover. Yikes! This might take some planning and a few new friends...