Wine Wits (#025): Margaret River Cab, Self-Help Books & Therapy
The latest from grape juice drinker Aleksandar Draganic
Hi friend!
This week was one filled with a lot of downtime from the previous one filled with events. I finally met James Erskine of Jauma and chatted to him about all things life and wine. He’s such a pure soul, I had a feeling I’ve known him all my life. You’ll see the Meet the Masters episode with him soon. Besides this, the month of June is dedicated to tasting all things Bordeaux, with the goal to understand the particulars of each style made in this historical region, but also to see where Bordeaux is in this day and age. I’ve had the fortune to go to the 2023 en primeur at Praelum with about 15 different wines present, but also had my share of practice at 67 Pall Mall where you can find a shitton of benchmark wines by the glass across several different vintages.
WINE I’M DRINKING
Dormilona ‘Clayface’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 (NSFW, 80 SGD)
So this week’s wine of the week is not Bordeaux or South Australia, but it is something in between - it’s a Cab Sauv from Western Australia, ha! Jo Perry of Dormilona was in Singapore last Sunday and it was a delight to catch up with her again and taste the new vintages. Clayface Cabernet is purely made in amphora (big clay vessels, usually used in Georgia). Hand-harvested then de-stemmed. I won’t say “not your textbook Cab Sauv” as those culty Vivino users would, because nowadays, what is textbook anyways, at least in Australia? This is a country full of progressive winemakers that are throwing the rulebook out the window, so close your eyes and enjoy the ride.
A warmer vintage than the rest of Australia, so I expected a big boy here. Cracked open, decanted for 2 hours and drunk over 2 days. The nose here doesn't promise much (it’s quite closed at this point), but the wine turns out to be surprisingly fresh, pure and structured Cabernet Sauvignon that isn't big nor overdone, but instead very balanced and thoroughly enjoyable. After so many sweet, soft and excessively oaked Aussie Cabs, this is a really welcome change. Structured with moderate acidity and firm, slightly grippy tannins. The palate definitely gives more character than the nose and finishes off with a crunchy, refreshing acidity.
BOOK I’M READING
Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning and Achieving Your Goals by Debra Eckerling
I’m not an avid devotee to self-help books nowadays, but at one point of my life this was almost all I read. When I finally started feeling like an adult I generally wanted to change many areas in day-to-day life. I wanted to improve specific areas such as my love and social life, my mental health and I also wanted to educate myself financially. After a few dozen of these books I started realising that most self-help stuff is just common sense. Self-help is an industry that just wants you to keep buying more self-help. Reading these books gives you a quick feel-good moment. But then that feeling fades, and you end up buying another one, and another, and another. It’s just a fake sense of progress that gives you a dopamine hit. I'm not hating on the books - they can contain some really good ideas. But like anything else, they're selling you something and want you to buy more. They can be helpful, but if you’re just reading them without actually doing anything, they're not helping and might be wasting your time.
I picked up Your Goal Guide because a friend from the wine industry recommended it as a quick and straightforward read, which it was. In my opinion, this book funnels a lot of the bullshit you read in 300-page books and gives you directions on how to set & plan your goals in a very elementary way. A lot of things I read here I kinda already knew, but I realised that If you’re young and just starting to plan your life, this is a much better starting point than most self-help books. Big "aha" moments will be rare, but even the basic advice can be super useful, so this book still works. Don't expect a ton of mind-blowing tips. If you get one really solid idea from the book, write it down and keep working on it long after you finish reading. Secondly, getting awesome results from even the best advice takes a lot of time and effort. Even if someone gave you all the top-notch tips tailored just for you in one book, the outcome depends on what you do after finishing it and for how long. Expect to spend up to ten times more hours applying the lessons than reading them.
RANDOM THOUGHT
I started going to therapy a couple of months ago and I can’t believe I didn’t start this years ago. It helps immensely to talk about issues in your life with a professional that can not only listen to your brain vomit, but also help you sort it out. I believe more people (especially in this industry) should launch themselves into it.
As always, thanks for reading - stay thirsty, stay curious.
See ya in a week!
Aleksandar