We Are All Experts and Nobody Dares to Deny It!

 Italy, when it comes to wine, is a very and evidently rich country. Richness in grape varieties like no other place in the world, a wealth allowing a wine making diversity having no equals. I have written about this many times, I will do this in future and with pride, of course. The many faces of Italian wine are expressed in many contexts, telling about countless identities and point of views, certainly distinct and frequently in evident contrast. Part of this phenomenon is clearly also the fad going on since a long time and having wine as the protagonist of endless debates, a subject for which everyone believes to have something to say, as well as expecting to be even authoritative. It was once said, as it is commonly known, Italy is a country of football coaches, everyone is an unexceptionable expert with visions and strategies originating from their living rooms and bars. Nowadays, besides still having this title, Italians have also become very experts in many others subjects and disciplines, in particular wine and cooking.

 Italy, besides being a country of excellent football coaches, has also become a country of wine makers, vintners, wine experts and, last but not the least, amazing chefs and cooking masters. All this is happening - magic of our times - by comfortably staying at home, sitting in the sofas of our living rooms and with a TV remote controller at hand, a tablet or a mouse. Every TV station is broadcasting at least one show about cooking, showing how good they are in using pans while giving the illusion that, after all, cooking is a simple and funny game everyone can play. Everyone can be an expert chef by simply staying at home while sitting on the sofa. Not to mention, of course, the ending part of the show is always about the majestic pairing of what has been cooked in few minutes in front of cameras with the best wine. We are Italians: we are very serious about cooking, not to mention wine. We are all incredible chefs and wine experts. And football coaches, of course.

 Every phenomenon that, anyway, becomes an expression of the masses, simply definable as a fad, unavoidably undergoes changes, frequently cause of confusion and ending up being negative elements. The more the phenomenon catches the attention of masses, the more the chances of speculations, favoring the many schools of thought, not only for the evident hope of making money, but also for creating small market niches. Wine is no exception, not to mention cooking. After all, if we consider the growth of the number of wineries and restaurants in the last recent years, the trend is very clear. Everyone is, of course, the ultimate defender of his or her own wine or cooking vision, paladins of traditions and absolute truths, showed off with powerful shields and no one can criticize or deny them. Everyone believes that, in his or her own winery or kitchen, is being celebrated the only and real expression of the majestic identity of wine or cooking. Italians, after all, are all wine and cooking experts: wineries and restaurants are no exception.

 Not to mention what it is happening on the Internet, a virtual place which changed our lives, where everyone - in theory - can say everything, most of the times telling disputable tales while expecting of not being criticized. In few minutes, with the help of the so called social networks and a simple web site, everyone can experience the excitement of becoming an authoritative, revered and feared wine influencer and also being convinced about it. On this regard, Internet is the ideal place for all those supposed experts about any subject, including wine and cooking, of course. Shielded by the reassuring light of a display, safe from any direct debate, everyone can write his or her own thought by believing to be indispensable and unquestionable. They frequently forget the fact that, for the simple act of expressing a thought in a public place, everyone is subject of criticism from others and this is evidently obvious. Things easily get for the worse and becomes what can be sadly seen in some TV shows: lots of insults, most of the times supported by the authoritative you don't know who I am. With a hurt pride for having suffered from the crime of non-existent lèse-majesté, they get angry for the fact someone dared to criticize or deny the prophetic words of such messiahs. After all, when someone has a tablet or a keyboard and writes something, it is because he or she is an authoritative expert and his or her thought is clearly an indisputable verdict, the only revealed and absolute truth.

 They are shielded by their arrogance like I've seen things you people wouldn't believe, imagining being a haughty emulator of the replicant Roy Batty in the famous Ridley Scott's movie Blade Runner with the majestic soundtrack by Vangelis. They cannot believe there are some more competent than them - really competent - capable of denying certain suppositions with concrete and tangible facts. In this case, of course, the one who dared to criticize the words of these wine prophets, is usually referred to be at the service of who knows what obscure organization conspiring against the truth. That truth known by them only and that, most of the times, they do not even have any concrete fact to support them, just their supposition that, as such, cannot be denied. It seems like watching the typical debates of any football team supporters, everyone fiercely and strenuously defending their own sides. After all, we all are football coaches. And wine and cooking experts, of course.

 Just like every expression of the masses, there are factions and sides, everyone proudly believes to be on the right side, supporters of an ideology which cannot be and must not be debated. Indeed - and this is my very personal opinion - wine, just like every cultural expression of men - and wine certainly is one of them - has no absolute rules and cannot have any. Strongly influenced by preferences, tastes, vision, culture and interpretations everyone of us unavoidably has, wine gets many identities and expressions. None of them is true and unarguable, none of them is false and questionable. Each of them is simply an expression of the same thing seen from different sides, interpreted, felt and considered in a different way. I admit many of these expressions do not meet my personal vision of wine, however there would not be any good reason for not considering or understanding them. It would be a mistake and a silly, unforgivable arrogance. Then there are those who make me smile, those who make wine a personal matter of vanity and presumption, of poor self celebration as well as obtuse and pitiful arrogance. I don't understand them and maybe there is nothing to understand. After all Italy is the country of wine and cooking experts. And we all are very good football coaches, of course. No one dares to deny it!