The pursuit of perfection is ultimately futile.
Fully consumed with our craft, winemakers spend plenty of time in our day in quiet contemplation. Walking up and down the vineyard rows, tasting wine from barrel in the cellar, staring blankly at the ceiling, or simply lying awake at night. Pondering (along with no shortage of random mutterings) what could have been done differently on the journey of each wine from the vineyard to the bottle to gain that marginal edge in quality that consequently propels each a step closer to perfection. We’re a tortured and restless lot!
Yet the very idea of the perfect outcome in wine is ultimately futile. Because learning, aggregating knowledge, and applying what we know (or often just think) is integral to our craft. It is the fuel that propels us around a perpetual loop encompassing vineyard, winery, bottle and glass.
We accept we’ll never achieve perfection, because each new vintage delivers new challenges and more opportunities to go one step better. We even learn by sharing insights from small victories and the constant frustrations when mother nature doesn’t play nice with a broad circle of friends that is the Barossa wine community. Surprisingly for winemakers, many of these candid conversations occur at the pub over a cold beer.
I’ve been in this game for nearly 30 years and happily acknowledge two eternal and inextricable truths. One - you learn just as much from your mistakes as you do from your triumphs. And two - perfection is elusive, most likely unattainable, maybe even futile.
But…we continue to stive for it. For abandoning the chase for perfection is never an option!