Wine and Remembrance

Lin Weiwen ponders on a vino’s transcendence after its winemaker has passed away.

- Priscilla Tan

Being a food journalist gets you access to the who’s who of the gourmet world—the Ramsays, the Mondavis—people who, on any other normal day, would think twice about setting aside a couple of hours to entertain an interview request from a stranger on the street.

I believe other reporters, especially those covering hard news, would describe their relationships with their sources as rather impersonal. But for us food journos, when food—that unifier of cultures—serves as the context of the interview, there can be a memorable connection between journalist and interviewee. If the latter’s personality is palpable (in a positive way), an in-depth interview can unfurl like a candid conversation with an old friend. That was how it felt like when I interviewed German winemaker Bernhard Huber in 2012. I thought I was lucky to have had a chance to converse with such an intelligent, passionate man.