Towards a Practical Philosophy of Wine: Preamble

Before delving into the article, we extend an invitation, should you be inclined, to listen to the "Canticle of the Creatures" by composer Riz Ortolani in its rendition from the soundtrack of the 1972 film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Saint Francis of Assisi possessed a profound understanding of the subtle language of creation. He discerned beauty in places where others overlooked it, appreciating both the perfection and imperfection inherent in all things. Placing himself at an immeasurable distance from the oeuvre, he beheld it as a unified whole, viewing it through the freedom of contemplation, within the "in-between time". In the words of Leibniz, rather than asserting "everything is righteous," Francis favored the notion that "the whole is righteous" or "righteousness encompasses all within the Whole". Nevertheless, our existence remains subject to the uncertainties of imperfect comprehension.

Philosopher Joan-Carles Mèlich, in his essay "The Wisdom of Uncertainty" (2019), pondered: "Do any of us truly know how to read? Can one ever claim such knowledge? We spend our lives engrossed in reading, yet remain perpetually unlearned."

The fact remains that no one genuinely possesses this knowledge. And nobody knows it because reading with all the senses constitutes a way of life, and nobody knows how to live.

At birth, we begin to navigate the world through scent, the most instinctual of all the senses, as it directly projects to the cerebral cortex without first relaying through the thalamus.

However, as we progress through life, our ability to discern scents diminishes. Remembering a fragrance, deciphering a perfume, or even identifying the aromas of wine becomes challenging. This challenge can be partially explained by a phenomenon termed "semantic calibration," where olfactory information processing competes with language processing for space in the same region of the cerebral cortex. Consequently, in the intricate realm of olfactory perception, language proves to be limiting, particularly in its metaphorical-metonymic expressions.

In contrast to other senses, the olfactory lexicon is imprecise and unstable, exhibiting significant interindividual variation. Moreover, it is asymmetric—naming a smell is difficult, and cognitively evoking it is even more so .

Furthermore, there is a dearth of research addressing the current epistemological and ontological foundations within the language and philosophy of wine aromas, complicating the standardization of metaphorical or metonymic odor taxonomies.

Beyond these neurolinguistic limitations, there are also constraints from a neurophysiological perspective. Humans struggle to reliably identify distinct characteristic odors when presented with mixtures containing more than three compounds. Trained or expert panels can only accurately identify three or four components within mixtures comprising up to five odorants (Livermore & Laing, 1998; Poupon et al., 2018).

That threshold delineates the journey toward unraveling the enigma, toward discerning the concealed significance behind every scent and experience. No individual wields control over the conditions of their olfactory experience, although many would strive relentlessly to dictate or harness them.

This incapacity to decipher the signals presented by our senses, including that of smell, permeates modern society's ethos of hyperstimulation and hyperconnectivity. In this postmodern milieu, we've become accustomed to thinking and feeling without constraints or criteria, as posited by the French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998).

We aren't instructed in the art of smelling because, thus far, aromas haven't proven efficient as a means of social control. Partly, this could be attributed to the inability to digitize scent. Consequently, the olfactory language remains cryptic, complicating its conceptualization and subsequent description.

Yet, despite these barriers, there exists a threshold that can be transcended.

The aromas of these constituents can be unmasked and identified within mixtures, facilitating selective adaptation by individually perceiving the volatile molecules , thereby circumventing the aroma-buffer effect.

By individually scenting the volatile molecules present in wine, such as eugenol or linalool among others (as we will discuss in future articles), a process of de-hierarchization of their respective olfactory thresholds is initiated

This de-hierarchization enables us to unmask, detect, and identify those volatile molecules overshadowed by others with higher concentrations or lower olfactory thresholds .

Failing to do so runs the risk of leaving us ensnared by the seductive allure of the undeciphered magic of a meaningless and incomprehensible olfactory text. As a consequence, the true essence of the wine, conveyed through its original code of aromas, fails to reach or transcend us.

We find ourselves reliant on others, akin to priests, who magically translate and interpret the wine's aromas for us. They coerce or lead us into appreciating them with a simple "I like it" or "I don't like it," or at best, offer us simplistic and inconsequential descriptors such as "red fruits" or "flowers." It's worth noting that aromas of flowers and fruits are present in virtually all wines.

The society of digital technology and hyperconnectivity has not resolved this issue; instead, we remain entrapped in the idolatry of superficial olfactory impressions. In fact, the problem has worsened, as our hedonic perception is susceptible to subtle social manipulation. This manipulation encourages the standardization of lifestyles and consumption patterns.

In this context, subjugated by the dictatorship of equality, the allure of the enigmatic sensuality present in everything we smell is overshadowed by the oppressive rule of uniformity. This control mechanism, driven by the demands of social media, promotes popular and conventional standards at the expense of uniqueness and diversity, thereby constraining individual freedom.

Even the world of wine is not immune to this predicament.

Within the realm of wine, a scarcity of diverse vocabulary for naming and describing aromas impedes wine guides from effectively distinguishing between different varieties and brands. Consequently, many wines are characterized using a limited range of descriptors, resulting in a perceived homogeneity of scents across various types—at least within written depictions.

However, this phenomenon often goes unnoticed. The prevailing culture of conformity suppresses the ability to generate novel modes of thought and action, thereby impeding innovation, creativity, and originality, along with the sensory pleasures they afford.

Ultimately, the ontological reality of wine—its essence beyond conventional constraints and meanings—remains entangled in the shadowy realm of material existence, devoid of emotion and expression.

Wine, as the epitome of grace, presents challenges that compel us to interrogate and reconsider the traditional knowledge and aesthetics entrenched in our hedonic experiences of existence.

Can wine and its diverse array of aromas serve as a model of resistance against uniformity? Might wine, in tandem with our olfactory sense, contribute to the revitalization of diversity and richness within contemporary society?

[To be continued]