The obligatory 'Euro Trip'
Australians are notorious
travelers, and I often encounter them even in the most remote, furthest flung
parts of the world. This is perhaps driven by our remoteness from the rest of
the world, and the desire for Australians to 'see what else is out there'.
It is customary for many young Australians
to take a trip to Europe. This trip often takes place at a key 'coming of age'
moment (either between high school and university, or between university and
full time work).
In my case, I traveled in
Europe in 2013 for nine months between college and starting work. Two memorable
moments of this trip were my visits to two of Europe's wine regions: Burgundy
(Bourgogne) in France, and the Duoro Valley in Portugal. These two experiences
shaped my relationship to wine.
Burgundy
I arrived in Burgundy with my
girlfriend halfway through my European adventure. We were in our early-mid 20's
and were still developing our palate for wine. We were also slightly disheveled
in our dress after traveling for an extended period.
We excitedly called some
wineries and tasting rooms to see if they were open. We made appointments where
necessary. However upon arriving at almost all of these wineries we were met
with what (felt) like looks of disgust. The purveyors looked us up and down and
(seemed) to think "Who are these scruffy, young, uncultured tourists? They
clearly have no money to spend, so why should we bother with them?".
Several vineyards told us they were closed
and could not see us--this was despite the fact we had phoned ahead and they'd
told us they were open. We also saw older, wealthier looking couples merrily
walking in and out of these same vineyards carrying cases of wine. We felt
bitter and resentful--we weren't excited to drink Burgundy wine anymore.
Eventually we found a local
gentleman who would serve us. He was a teacher at the local sommelier
school, and he walked us through a private half-day course on wine tasting, and
on interpreting the local naming and labeling conventions. This gentleman salvaged
our Burgundy experience for us.
Duoro Valley
Later next month we arrived in
Porto in Portugal, and planned to take a tour of both the tasting rooms in that
city, and the wineries in the nearby Duoro Valley. Porto is famous for its
(eponymous) port wine, of which we both had never tried and knew nothing about.
Upon touring the Duoro Valley
we were pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome we received by the various
wineries. And a local tour guide even took us to a tiny, dusty hole in the
wall (filled exclusively with elderly men) where the bartender offered us a
tasting of 100-year old tawny port for what felt like only a handful of
Euros.
The value of customer
experience
Since visiting Burgundy, I have had a begrudging
relationship with French wine (‘it is snobby, overpriced, overrated’); since
visiting The Duoro, I affectionately seek out the wineries I visited when
scanning a wine list (‘they are quality and value for money’) and I’ve
developed a taste for Port.
This has taught me the value of customer
experience: a tasting or visiting experience can make or break a customer’s
impression for a lifetime.
