When I tried the Trollinger wine two months ago I commented that it was milder than other Trollingers that I've drunk. I didn't mean this as a criticism, I was only expressing my surprise. Today I tried a variant, the Trollinger Trocken ("dry Trollinger"). This is closer to the taste that I'm used to, but it has a very dry taste. It's not a wine that I'd drink by itself, it's something I'd drink with a meal. The mild Trollinger is a wine that I would be more likely to drink by itself.
The wine has a very beautiful scent with aromas of raspberries, cranberries, cherries, spices, undergrowth, herbs and floral accents. Juicy, delicately fruity on the palate, nutmeg, silky, medium-bodied, beautiful structure, fresh style, tasty, enormous charm and a long after-taste.
It's not the first time that I've had a discussion like this, so I was prepared for the taxi driver's arguments. The basic argument is that when Jesus told his disciples that the "spirit of truth" would come after him (John 16:13), this spirit is the Prophet Mohammed. That's a very weak argument, and it's still used to justify the false teachings of the leaders of more recent cults. I passed over this argument quickly, because there's no hope of convincing anyone who's been brainwashed from birth into accepting such ridiculous theological arguments.
We passed some drunks in the city centre, so he began to talk about alcohol being evil, and it's wrong that Christians drink alcohol. That was an amazing generalisation, but it gave me a chance to discuss the Bible's teachings on alcohol. Jesus himself drank wine, and at the last supper with his disciples he ordered his followers to drink wine to remember him. That exposed the hypocrisy of the Moslem attitude towards the Bible. They say that the Bible supports Islam, but whenever something is quoted that they don't like they say, "The Bible has been changed. That wasn't in the original version". In other words, they're saying "The Bible is correct, except for anything in it that I don't like". I pressed on and told him that wine was invented by Noah after the flood, and he collapsed naked after drinking it. My taxi driver was very insulted by these statements, saying that the Koran doesn't say anything about Noah getting drunk.
"Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent" (Genesis 9:20-21).
I don't see this passage as a justification of getting drunk. It's just something that happened. Alcohol had never existed before this time, so Noah was unaware of its effects and got drunk.
The taxi driver said, among other things, that alcohol is the worst drug, worse than heroin or crack, because it changes you and makes you do things you wouldn't normally do. I totally disagree that other drugs are less harmful, but I can understand why the taxi driver said this. Alcohol is forbidden in the Koran, whereas heroin isn't mentioned, so alcohol must be worse than heroin.
People who never drink alcohol don't understand it. They see drunks falling over in the street, so they think that people only drink to get drunk. They're wrong. It's only a small minority of drinkers who drink to excess. I drink regularly, but I'm almost never drunk. I've only been drunk four times in my life. The last time was on my 60th birthday, when my friends deliberately made me drunk because they'd never seen me drunk. It was a silly game that I enjoyed at the time, but I wouldn't do it again. The other times were in 1977, 1984 and 2000; so rare that I can remember the years.
What the taxi driver said about alcohol changing people is only partly true. Alcohol removes inhibitions. It makes people do the things that they've always wanted to do but never dared. That's why people who drink act differently to one another. Alcohol reveals a person's true self. Is that a good or a bad thing? It can be either. It depends on what you're suppressing. A shy person can open up and talk to people. That's positive. Someone who hates his boss can hit him in the face after a few drinks. That's bad.
If you're an experienced drinker, as I am, you know when to stop. Alcohol can make meetings with friends more pleasant. After one or two glasses of wine you can open up and reveal your secrets to one another. This state is described so poetically in Anne Rice's "The Vampire Lestat". Lestat says that when he was drinking with his friend Nicolas they reached a Golden Moment when everything made sense. I've often felt that moment. Lestat says that this moment didn't last. I understand why not. If you carry on drinking after reaching this moment it slips through your fingers and is replaced by silliness.
Addendum on Friday, 8th November, 2019
After drinking another glass of this wine I've noticed something. I can enjoy it more if I drink it slowly. I'm not a fast drinker anyway, but this is a wine that I have to drink even slower. If I take a small sip the initial impression that I have is the dryness, and then as I wait the fruity taste slowly develops in my mouth. I take back what I said about this being a wine best enjoyed with a meal.
You may have noticed that the expert description, quoted in italics above, is identical to the description for the other Trollinger wine. Maybe the experts aren't infallible after all. Even though the two wines come from the same grapes, the tastes are very distinct. I need to sample both Trollinger wines side by side to make a better comparison.
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