Hi, my name is Olivier, I live and work in Belgium with my beautiful family, being my wife and my son. I was born in what Harry Waugh called the miracle vintage, 1978. I obtained my diploma as sommelier-conseil this year after 3 years of evening classes, and successfully taking the exam at the wine university of Suze-la-Rousse in France. I do not work as a sommelier, nor do I currently have a professional activity in the wine business. I have a passion for wine, however, and that’s why I decided to do the sommelier course. These were three great years. I learned a lot about wine and and I met people who spend just as much time tasting, discussing and reading about wine as I do. Now that the formal learning and studying is over, I want to continue my adventures on the wine trail on this blog.

What do I want to write about?

Not being a wine professional I cannot focus on one region or regularly taste dozens of wines and review them as the known wine critics do. Honestly, I don’t really mind. There is so much to discover that limiting yourself to one region seems a bit boring to me. That’s why I want to focus more on the stuff that you rarely read about in the weekend edition of the news paper, or hardly ever see on the menu of your local restaurant. I am talking about wines made from illustrious grapes such as petit manseng, nerello mascalese, or fer servadou, or from equally unknown regions such as Irouleguy, Valençay or Irancy. Not because I am a wine snob who wants to know better than the others and come with new discoveries to make myself interesting. No, because I have tasted these wines and because I think they deserve to be known. If you like wine, isn’t it fun to discover something new from time to time? And on top of that, such wines often offer great value in comparison to the much sought-after and overpriced wines that everyone knows.

Apart from my search for the hidden gems, I will also sacrifice myself for the sake of science and try out a few food-wine pairings from time to time. I find it so important to have a wine that matches my food, that I don’t understand how little attention food-wine pairing gets in restaurants. Out of all places! I’m sure you have experienced it yourself : you go to a nice place, you get a really good meal, and then the wine card has Bordeaux, Bordeaux, new world cabernet, new world merlot, and of course a chardonnay or two. I have absolutely nothing against these wines (if they’re good!), but very often there are wines that would better match the food they serve. It’s a pity that chefs and restaurant holders who are very passionate about their food do not always realise that one plus one can be three! Well, then we’ll have to look for that experience at home, I guess. Or choose our restaurants better!

Finally, it is my ambition to reach out to other wine bloggers and exchange views with people in different parts of the world. Wine tastes do differ around the world, and people who live on the other side of the planet simply don’t get the same wines or pair them the same way with food. I’d love to find out more about that by reaching out to other wine amateurs in the world. We’ll see where that brings us!