Page 181 - A Life - my Live - my path

My wine tours

Anecdote: the virgin fig
After just a few classes, I'd already been taken aback by
some of the comments, but one of the nicest I'd heard was
undoubtedly from one of the participants, who went on to
become a very good friend 148 .
After listening to his group's initial comments, he took
the floor and said: "I'd like to add a detail: this wine
reminds me strongly of the smell of virgin figs found on
the hillsides at the foot of Vesuvius. My wife and I have just
been there, and the smell is still fresh in my olfactory
memory".
At that point, I was at a loss for words, stunned and blown
away, because personally, I was at the stage of describing
a wine with simple words such as: "It has a beautiful

structure, it's balanced...". Despite the large number of figs
I've eaten in my life, referring to this fruit to describe a
wine was completely beyond me, not only in the idea, but
also and above all in the words used: "The smell of a virgin
fig".
In spite of this state of mind, I came to my senses, and in
a decisive tone of voice, I asked him: "May I know what a
virgin fig means?" And then I was completely stunned,
because this man of 1 m 96, sure of himself, answered: "It's
a fig that the hand of man has not yet touched".
I was knocked out cold!

148 Luc CALLEWAERT
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