education

The Student as Stargazer

6:21 PM

"How do you define the process of learning and teaching?"

night, person, silhouette

Our universe: the infinite, constantly expanding body of collective knowledge and experiences, where facts and ideas are continuously conceived, revised, or disproven, just as stars and galaxies arise, merge, or collapse.

Gazing into the night sky, we gaze into the past itself, as discoveries of generations past are transmitted light-years later into faint, twinkling representations of their true selves. We begin to see patterns amidst the canopy, patterns that might help us navigate our own world or understand more about how we relate to our universe.

However, our view of the universe is limited by and even distorted by our narrow perspectives, position, season, and other contextual or environmental factors. In light of these obstacles, we turn to tools such as constellation charts, telescopes, spacecraft, and computer programs to provide us with a fuller picture of what we know and do not know, and to guides who show us how to use these tools to connect the dots in our knowledge. Armed with new methods and technologies, we become better prepared to decode meanings and find patterns throughout the night sky, perhaps even discovering a few new stars of our own once in a while....

....And yet—nothing will ever be as momentous and unforgettable as the “the real thing”: the experience of simply standing before the Milky Way on a clear night, in awe of the vastness of past and potential knowledge, recognizing that we are not distant observers but active (albeit relatively insignificant) participants in our galaxy and universe.

education

Good Wine Gone Bad: What can bad wine teach us about life?

7:08 PM

Blueberry With Green Leaves during Daytime

1. Why Care About Bad Wine?
Damp cardboard, wet dogs, expired vinegar...it doesn't take an expert to sniff out the musky aromas of wine gone bad. In times like these, it's easy to feel annoyed at having wasted time and money on an undrinkable bottle of wine. But when the anger fades, I'm more than often left with a lingering disappointment--not at myself, but at the wasted potential of these barrels of innocent grapes, raised in blissful ignorance under the sun, absorbing water and nutrients from Mother Nature, only to be tainted by cork or unwanted bacteria somewhere along the production process by some heartless winemaker. Sometimes waste happens later in the process--a bottle of wine, once charming and elegant, is carelessly exposed to the ruthless sunlight for much too long. Eventually yielding to the debilitating heat and humidity, it becomes an unrecognizable, stale shadow of its former brilliant self. Even more disappointing is wine that tastes like nothing. What could have happened in the poor grapes' pasts to induce such apathy, to not even bother to taste like something?

My indignation might stem from my teacher side, whose heart breaks at any form of unfulfilled potential, or from the fact that I sometimes recognize my adult self in an underwhelming glass of wine--my passionate nature, having succumbed to entropy, irrevocably fermented into cynicism and exhaustion after being let down one too many times.

Is there hope for the tired and mediocre wines of the world? What can we do to stay optimistic amidst careless, capitalistic winemakers and harsh environments?

I was resolved to find out.

2. The Grape vs The System
Not all grapes are born equal. Some grapes are better for eating, while others are especially cultivated for wine. Those of you who had a hard time in high school will be pleased to find out that pretty, popular, juicy grapes full of pulp in fact make horrible wine. This is due to the fact that wine is converted from sugars in the grape:

As the diagram above suggests, the more sugar a grape inherently possesses, the more alcohol and flavor it will have. Unfortunately, table grapes are bursting in pulp and water but low in sugar, which leads to pretty flavorless wine post-fermentation. On the other hand, wine grapes are built for wine success--high sugar content leading to higher alcohol levels, thick skins that provide additional flavors and tannins, and higher acidity which gives the wine more structure:

Here lies the problem: What if I wasn't born a wine grape? Is it my fault I didn't have much sugar to begin with? Can I still become a great wine? 

This was where I struggled with the ethics of good wine--I was chastising apathetic grapes for becoming tasteless wine, but was it really their fault for not having these privileged initial conditions? Were they table grapes who bravely challenged the status quo to be able to achieve their dreams of becoming wine? It seemed like the system was set up such that only grapes of very specific properties could succeed.


I had to learn more: What are the conditions for producing excellent wine grapes? Can emulating these conditions overcome structural limitations of a grape?

  
3. Evidence the System is rigged
I was disheartened to learn that the biggest determinant of good wine was a factor way out of the grapes' control--climate. If the climate is too cold, grapes will not fully ripen or have the necessary sunlight to produce enough sugar for the desired alcohol content. If it's too hot, grapes will lose their acidity too quickly, therefore compromising the character and quality of the wine. If it's too humid, grapes will become susceptible to mold and rot. Therefore, most wine grapes are found in the "Goldilocks Zone" of 30-50 degrees latitude North and 30-45 degrees latitude South, as these regions have the most favorable climates for wine-grape growing. 

Landscape is another major determinant of quality that is out of the grapes' control--the exact slope of the vineyard affects the amount of sunlight and water drainage, while proximity to mountains and bodies of water influences microclimates and therefore the growth of the grape. Age of the vines also affects the consistency of grape quality--the older the vine, the more it regulates its grape yields to ensure it consistently produces a smaller amount, but higher quality and more concentrated batch, of grapes.


These factors all point to the uncomfortable realization that grapes from a certain region, climate, and vineyard (especially an old, well-positioned one) are more primed for wine fame. This is why some people look at the region and vineyard of a wine label to infer wine quality, much like recruiters look at prestige signals such as zip codes, family background and Ivy League degrees to approximate candidate ability. They understand the structural underpinnings of success and save a lot of time and effort by using these structural characteristics as proxies for quality, rather than taking the time and risk to evaluate each individual grape or person.


The image above shows how two grapes born into vastly different regions and vineyards will affect their ability to become quality wine. In light of such unjust and demoralizing news, I began to wonder how much of the "bad wine" I was tasting was due to unfavorable initial conditions which the grape and winemaker were ultimately unable to overcome. 

But should we ask grapes and winemakers who do not have perfect initial conditions to give up producing wine? Is there a point in trying to become something you aren't set up to be?


4. Cultivating Hope
Fortunately, there is a lot of evidence that shows good wines can still be produced through skillful viticulture (cultivation of grapevines) and winemaking. Here are just a couple specific insights:

Apparently, the best grapes are produced under stressful circumstances--when poor nutrients and restricted water supply force the vine to develop deeper roots in search of water and nutrients. If vines are spoiled with too much water and nutrients, they essentially get too complacent and start producing lots of leaves and huge clusters of fat, bloated grapes. On the other hand, restricting nutrients forces vines to devote all their resources into one thing only--survival and thus reproduction, which means focusing on producing high quality grapes with richly concentrated flavors. These smaller but more "disciplined" grapes also have a higher skin-to-juice ratio, which increases the color, aromas, and complexity of wine.

Of course, this does not justify suffering! Severe stress will stop photosynthesis completely and damage the vine beyond repair. But it's encouraging to know that privilege is not the only factor of good wines--discipline and careful cultivation of vines can lead to some amazingly flavored and complex wines. However, this implies that vineyards with less prestigious zipcodes need to invest in skills and resources that will encourage the cultivation necessary to produce great grapes.


More good news for "bad grapes": the production of good wines does not stop after the growth and harvesting of grapes. The winemaking process can add a lot of complexity and elegance to the wine as well. One common technique is the use of oak--storing and aging wine in oak barrels after fermentation. Oak storage not only imparts interesting flavors such as vanilla, spices, and honey to the wine, but also smooths out wines and brings out more fullness and fruitiness through increased oxygen exposure.

But there's bad news as well--many winemakers overcompensate by using too much oak in their wines, the strong oak flavors overpowering any individual characteristics of the grapes. Overly-oaked wines could also be a way for winemakers to hide the mediocre cultivation/quality of the grapes. Just like an overly prescriptive curriculum crushing the personality and soul of a wide-eyed child, the system fails the grape yet again through lazy winemaking that disregards the "dignity" and "uniqueness" of each grape, in return for overly one-note, safe, and commercial flavors.

5. What was my point again?
After my (still preliminary) journey into understanding wine, I've come to the conclusion that it really isn't the grape's fault for producing crappy wines:
  • Often, these grapes did not have the privilege/luck of possessing favorable initial conditions such as climate and geographical location;
  • Even if they overcome these initial barriers, some of them are placed in the hands of lazy winemakers who value quantity and commercialism more than quality and individualism
    • unfortunately, this is often a structural issue as these winemakers, who did not inherit "prestigious" vineyards and locations, have less pricing power and hence operate on a lower profit margin, which leads to a focus on high volume, low costs, and mediocre quality;
  •  If they miraculously do find a skillful and caring winemaker, they might still get spoiled in the process, either through careless transportation to the retailer or careless storage by the customer.
In short--yes, we should still be furious at the system for letting lazy and careless people produce tasteless and spoiled wines. But there is definitely reason to remain hopeful and optimistic as the system can still be changed, as long as we actually take the time, effort and money to nurture all grapes into good wine. In fact, we should actually be glad that there are still cheap and bad wines around the world, as this means that many winemakers and grapes are still trying (albeit not very successfully) to fight and subvert the few elitist vineyards controlling the narrative. Consequently, only drinking wines from these elitist, traditional vineyards means furthering the "inequality gap" and inter-generational wealth of the wine world. So you know, there's some sort of socialist lesson there....

One can only hope that with time and technology, all winemakers, merchants, and consumers can learn how to cultivate grapes and manage wines with the tender loving care that these grapes truly deserve.

Until then, let's continue drinking away our $10 merlots!