Travels with Dr. Sam

Port Wine tasting in Douro Valley, Portugal

What Wine Taught Me About Time, Memory, and Living

By

Sam Sarkar

The Ritual Begins

As I sit on a stool in a beautiful vineyard in Paso Robles, California, I swirl the red liquid in my glass. I tilt it, admiring its color. I inhale its aroma, then take a small sip, letting the wine move slowly across my palate, absorbing its complexity before finally swallowing.

I love wine—but it has been a long journey to get here.

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First Tastes: Curiosity and Rebellion

My first experience with alcohol was a furtive sip of my father’s whiskey, stashed at the back of a cupboard in our living room. I must have been fourteen or fifteen. I was fascinated by the ritual: the way he poured drinks for friends, how they gathered around, sipping and savoring, as if sharing in some quiet pleasure I did not yet understand.

One evening, while my parents were out, curiosity got the better of me. I slipped the bottle from its hiding place and poured myself a thimbleful. It smelled terrible and tasted worse—harsh and burning as it made its way down my throat.

I was clever enough to top off the bottle with water so no one would notice. But despite that unpleasant first experience, I found myself craving another taste whenever the opportunity arose. Eventually, my father’s friends began to complain that the whiskey tasted “off”—“very watery,” one of them observed, not incorrectly.

A few months later, my friends and I were sneaking off to dark corners of the neighborhood, sharing bottles of moonshine one of them had managed to procure, along with cigarettes. I still didn’t appreciate the taste of alcohol and wondered why anyone would drink it at all. For me, it was about the thrill—the quiet rebellion of doing something forbidden.

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The Illusion of Sophistication

In college, we drank cheap liquor and convinced ourselves we were sophisticated. It wasn’t until graduate school in Los Angeles that I discovered wine.

It began with the famous “Two-Buck Chuck,” a humble red blend from Trader Joe’s that cost all of two dollars. It became a staple among my friends. We would start our Friday nights with happy hour—$1 well drinks or beer—then return home to finish the evening with bottles of that inexpensive red.

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A Turning Point

In 2004, a film called Sideways was released and quickly became a cult classic. It followed two friends—one a wine enthusiast, the other a washed-up actor—on a weekend trip through Central California wine country. The film was funny and poignant, but what captivated me most was the reverence for wine: the discussions of Merlot and Cabernet, the idea that wine could be more than just a drink.

A few months later, we attended a wedding at a winery. There, we tasted a variety of wines—and something shifted. That experience marked the beginning of a deeper appreciation.

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Learning to Taste

We began making trips to Temecula, about seventy-five miles from Los Angeles, often called Southern California’s wine country. After a few visits, we joined a couple of wineries as members, enjoying tastings and discounted bottles. What began casually soon became a passion.

At first, we drank without much thought. But gradually, I began to notice differences—the distinct personalities of grape varietals, the influence of terroir, the subtle imprint of climate and craftsmanship. I learned to distinguish a Chardonnay from a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Gris from a Riesling. I began to recognize the layered notes of a Pinot Noir or the structure of a Cabernet Sauvignon.

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Expanding Horizons

Our travels expanded. We explored California’s great wine regions—Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Napa, Sonoma—and then ventured farther afield. We fell in love with the Pinot Noirs of Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

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Eventually, our journeys took us across the world: Burgundy, the Rhône Valley, Provence, the Douro Valley, Tuscany, Rioja, and Stellenbosch. With each trip, our appreciation deepened, and we began collecting bottles from these regions. Today, our home cellar holds several hundred wines, each one a memory waiting to be revisited.

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From Passion to Investment

In time, our passion led to something even more tangible—we acquired an ownership stake in a winery in Temecula, California.

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What Wine Became

Now, when I swirl a glass of wine, I notice everything: the color, the viscosity, the balance. I can pick out notes of stone fruit, cherry, minerals, tobacco, or leather. More than that, I appreciate the story in each bottle—the land, the labor, the time.

Wine has taught me how to slow down.
How to pay attention.
How to remember.

How to live better and happier.

It has been with me in laughter, in celebration, in the quiet unwinding of ordinary evenings. It has marked beginnings and softened endings. It has grown alongside me, deepened as I have matured. It has brought me and my wife closer. Some of our best memories are sharing a bottle of wine.

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The Final Pour

And now, I find myself wondering not what I have gained from wine, but what I would lose without it.

Because it is no longer just a drink.
It is a memory. It is a place. It is time, held and released.

And of all the things I might one day learn to live without—
I know this:

I would grieve the loss of wine not for its taste,
but for the life it has allowed me to taste within it.

At this stage of life, I believe I could give up almost anything.

But not my wife or my glass of wine.