PART 1: The Beggining

Terrarosa, Italy

A) A Strange “About Me” Hi, My name is Alexandra Jenkins and I would like to bring you on my wine journey throughout the 2018 fall grape harvest season in Tuscany and Piedmont, Italy. We can start with some formalities so that I can catch you up on what I am up to in this moment. I am 24, I have graduated University at Rollins College with a degree in Economics, and I have lived/studied/traveled throughout Southern Europe for a large portion of my life. Although I am college educated person (which brought upon logic) and strongly influenced by my business minded spirt (capitalistic nature), I have an even stronger love for following passions in any and all unconventional manner(s), especially outside of conventional education. Maybe it is my Achilles Heel in the short run, but I trust that in the long run it will all play out. I am a firm believer that with hard work and passion, anything is able to be accomplished by your own hand. Regardless of fate, regardless of finances, regardless of any and all circumstance; you have the power in your hands to accomplish anything. That is it. That is a summary of my soul. I don’t even need to go further into detail with this. You now know why I am here. I have led a life of irrational actions in a rational order. Although I do things without properly thinking them completely through, those “things” end up creating the most progress in my life. After I recognized this pattern, it began my rational order to the irrational lifestyle. Maybe early on I do not give much thought into the process, but once I am absorbed by the decision, I become a sponge latching on to every last drop of my mission. Although I have stories to tell, I will not go into too much detail of my past in the wine industry or of my travels, for that is a vast hole we may never come out of.

I can tell you is the following:

B) My Thought Process I have been in Italy preparing for harvest season for the past 10 days. I started in Terrarosa, Tuscany with my Italian Friends, and have spent some time in the grand city of Rome. When I walk around these architectural spectacles like the Coliseum or even simply the aged buildings and doors, I become like a new born baby opening her eyes for the first time. Coming from an average American city, experiencing something like Rome sets off an explosion in your soul. You wonder “where you have lived all your life?”, and “how could this city be real?”..etc. It seems, even though I am an American who has been fortunate enough to see a lot of these things in my lifetime, that we, as Americans have been deprived of history…a history so deeply rooted in the foundations of our humanity that we are almost ashamed of not knowing more. Because America is so far removed from the deep roots of history, when we read a textbook at school, or watch a movie based on a true historic event, it is difficult for us to connect with the contents within. For many of us, the ancient world is a bit of a fairytale (except without all the peace and love). We are so separated both geographically and mentally, that bringing us into the old world becomes a fairytale. It takes a lot of time spent overseas to begin realizing that the fairytale world you go to vacation in, the old buildings you take Instagram pictures in front of, and the land you are hiking… it is real. It has meaning. It breathes history with every meter you walk. The funny part that I have recently begun to realize seems to be a positive spin. Maybe by seeing the Ancient European Lands as if we were walking around in a fairytale world possibly isn’t a negative thing. In fact, this may be our best quality to have for traveling. Stay with me here, because this should make some sense. I only say this because I have spent enough time with, and had long enough conversations with, authentic people from these lands. I have had the opportunity to see how they think, feel and do. They have spent their entire lives with history as their playground. They had the ability to touch history with their hands and know it was real. But us, we were just told about history through books and movies. They don’t see their land as the miracle it truly is anymore, not in the manner an American does (or “should”, at least). We see these places for the first time, and we receive an excitement and love from such new scenes that help to finally piece together the stories we have once drew up in our heads from history class or movies. We are able to appreciate these lands in a different way than the locals, almost as if we were able to see clearly for the first time.

C) How does this relate to wine?

This theory can be of significance, as I have decided to relate it to wine. When you speak to an Italian on average they know of the main grapes from the principal European regions, the best bottles to match with the typical Italian meals, and they are very particular on the tasting notes of wine itself. I do understand that the contrast Country I chose (ie: Italy) is one of the top wine producing countries in the world, but this helps to prove my point. After spending enough time in the wine industry in the USA to understand how the average American drinks wine, I believe it follows a pattern, in contrast, of a more irrational approach in which many Europeans cannot possibly comprehend culturally. No matter how many Italian or French people I explain my ideas to, they can’t seem to understand what I am about to tell you next. In America, people look for the wines with a story. Wines that protect an image they seek to portray. A Lifestyle. Americans want a wine with a story. We are born story tellers. We are born story lovers. We don’t want only a good tasting wine, because if we are going to buy a 70 dollar Chardonnay then we want to be able to tell people why it is so special. Wine is a tool in America. Not a necessity. Wine is used to romanticize the world, and creates a way to bring back consciousness to the modern world we have created. Wine isn’t just alcohol. Wine isn’t solely a drink that is mandatory in our gastronomic lifestyle. Wine in America is used as a tool to bring back humanity into our lives. Geographically we are spread out, we have lesser of a social live than the average person in the world, and we don’t take a lot of time to sit with large groups of friends at the dinner table every night to drink. We work so hard every day, and we don’t believe that we have time to appreciate the present. But, the days we do buy a bottle and cook a meal, if gives us the excuse to relax and ponder. It gives us all the excuse to open up and discuss. It frees our introversion and makes it more suitable to converse about important and maybe even controversial subject matter. It encourages you to put your phone down and be present in a moment… in a conversation. Like I said, conversation is something many Americans lack in this age. A bottle of wine gives us the excuse we need to break the chains of isolation.

D) Application:

In theory, Europeans appreciate wine for its proper taste and fundamental ability to pair with compatible meals, and Americans are looking for a lifestyle within the bottle. This means that marketing wine to a European is a completely different process than marketing wine to an American. It is that simple. My goal of this trip is to find those stories, the stories the Americans want, and to not only sell them a great tasting bottle of wine, but a great story. A great story which can bring forth an extensive conversation with whomever you share it with, and you grow together with every sip.