Passion and Profession

Every once in a while, especially in discussions in forums or on blogs, distinctions are drawn between wine lovers and wine experts. Between those who approach wines as consumers and those who have made wine their profession, as employees of established publications or free-lance contributors. Since I know this world well, being a veteran member of the second category, I find it difficult to imagine a situation in which these two groups could be considered as two distinctly different categories. Many wine lovers (and this includes me) over time become wine professionals, if they can write well and are technically prepared. Most wine journalists and others who write about wine are also, and I would say above all, wine lovers, buying countless bottles and behaving like any other consumer.

These people include Gianni Fabrizio, who today is responsible for the Gambero Rosso guide; Dario Cappelloni, who also writes for Doctor Wine; Ernesto Gentili, the editor of the Espresso wine guide; and Armando Castagno, who just left Bibenda after years as one of the editors for the Duemillevini guide. These are all people who organized their own wine excursions, often together with 'simple' wine lovers, who spend a significant part of their income to buy wines, and who when they write about wine are unable to be cold and impartial judges and approach the subject with passion and expertise. How are these people different from a normal wine lover? What do they lack? I think nothing. If anything they have an extra advantage, experience built over years of work and travel, interacting with hundreds of winemakers and enologists the world over. All this has allowed them to have an intellectual openness and knowledge that would be difficult for a non-professional to have. For sure they make their living writing about wine and this appears to be a problem for some people. There is no problem for a scientist to make his living with science, or for a professor to work and draw a salary by teaching and spreading knowledge, or if an artist sell a work he creates. But for some reason things are different in the world of wine and food and sector professionals are often criticized.

Personally, and I am well aware I am also writing 'pro domo mea', I think there is a lot of hypocrisy involved, a kind of puritanism that surfaces in certain situations and not in others. This is usually the case when, out of personal envy or for ulterior motives, people seek to discredit those who work with intellectual competence and honesty. It is no secret that undermining the credibility of those who try to establish a hierarchy of values works in favor of those who do not want these values expressed. This perhaps because they have other ways to evaluate their own products or are stronger economically. And this has nothing to do with being a real wine lover.