Juan Diaz Ibanez
Wine for Corona Times
I write this column from a period of self-isolation in my house. I used to smoke two packs a day until my second daughter was born and since the coronavirus started in January, I have been having dreams of taking up smoking again. I consulted a book of Karl Jung about dreams, but they don’t
More is Less, Sometimes
For some unfortunate reason, I have been tasting “natural wines” the past few months with some serious wine drinkers. It’s the last hipster, eco-friendly, save-the-wine-world trend and since I hate trends, here I am talking about them. Basically, natural wines are ruled by the maximum principle of “nothing is added, and nothing is taken away”,
What I Hate About Wine
February, the month of love and lovers. Lots of hearts, pink colours in the ads, kisses, lips, cupids, chocolates and bubbles. I have never celebrated Saint Valentine and never has my wife complained. Talking about saints now, I am reminded of Saint Thomas Aquinas and his infallible method called antithesis, created to prove his point
The End of Christmas
I was eight or nine years old, my brother two years younger and my sister two years younger still. We were all loyal believers of Santa Claus and his superpowers. In Chile, where we grew up, Christmas happens during the summer, no snow and pine trees for us. In December, people are dripping with sweat
The Usual Suspects
I come from a country in America, the Latin one of course and not the Trump one, where trusting people is something rare, exclusive, elusive, and even costly. You are not born trusting people. Maybe only your mother for obvious reasons. Not even your father, since he’ll only recognise your existence if your relation is
The Art of Drinking Alone
I don’t really know when the thought “drinking alone is very bad” was implanted in my brain. For sure it was my mother – responsible for my ever-present, guilty-catholic-apostolic-roman moral compass – who planted that sinful idea in my young mind, together with those related to virginity, drug abuse, hard studies, having a house before
The Art of Sleeping During Wine Dinners
Not long ago, wine was something of a rarity here in Indonesia, far more exclusive than it is now. About as unreachable as a date with Scarlet Johansson, or a sit down with Kim Jong-Un! Food and beverage managers, importers and consumers all liked to price wine very high. Although this has changed today and
A Cup of Wine Please
Not so long ago, lets say some time between K-Pop and the first album of The Beatles, normal people like my mother used to drink wine in simple glasses (only Champagne was drunk in something special). Wine was poured in the same container used for water or Fanta. The fashion of glasses and special shapes
Wines Banned : Indonesia’s Struggle with Imported Wines
I’m extremely suspicious of vegetarian menus, eco friendly people and ecological causes. Call me an agnostic of the environmental talk if you want, but I always have been. I never saved electricity, water or petrol. I use my car whenever I can and I buy plastic with no regret or remorse. Call me an animal
