How to remember a wine?

Many friends asked me, "how to remember a wine?"

To be fully honest with you, even after almost a decade in wine tasting, I choose not to recall a wine by its minerality or herbaceousness. I remember a wine by...

...closing my eyes, and thinking of that person...

Burgundy Pinot Noir is so much like this thirty-ish beautiful and elegant woman. Fruity with complexity, sophisticated with power, she adapts to everything. It is rare, and it is priceless.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is, by comparison, this bubbly lovely early-twenty girl. Her golden hair shines in the sun, and her harmless smile tells you a tale of the precious naivety. You drink it young.

Argentinian Malbec has the chest of passion, and the full body of spices. Like a young man, who sometimes hasn't decoded the formula of delicateness, is so strong and willing to front the rawness. You drink it with the juicy steak, pork fillet roasted with plums and anything as strong, raw and powerful.

A Bordeaux blend of Carbernet Sauvignon, Carbernet Franc and Merlot reminds me of this charming gentleman. He has the sophistication, but you know through the melting tannin on tip of your tongue, the power of the worldly man. He is as passionate, but so well-balanced with the wisdom. Time cultivates the charm of delicacy. Complexity and texture of this winemakes it hard to drink alone, but miraculous to drink with the right food pairing.  

Shanghai, Paris, Singapore, San Francisco...all these cities where I have lived my life to the fullest developed my palate for life. Wine tasting is not a sip, a posture, an in-room exam, but a journey of appreciating the smiles, tears, hugs, striving and separations in life. Then, you close your eyes, and you put a dear experience to this wine. Next time, you will recall, "oh, yes, it tastes like the Burgundy woman, I remember."