I FOUND A YOUNG GUY WHO LOVES WINE

(THIS NEWSLETTER HAS BEEN 100% WRITTEN BY A HUMAN -- ME)

Luigi Maruani proudly displays his wine collection

At a wine-cum-climate event recently (yes, there are such things), I actually found a 26-year-old who loves wine. He’s definitely an anomaly amongst his peers and he understands/doesn’t understand why his generation hasn’t embraced wine. He also believes they never will; and consequently, he fears for worldwide wine going forward.

But when we end our conversation in his San Francisco apartment – Luigi Maruani, who has lived in the States for the last eight years – says, “I do think humanity will persevere.”

As for wine and its current diminishing state among his sistren and brethren Gen Zers re: wine’s eschewment: “ … I’m hoping it might be cyclical …”

Maruani, of course, doesn’t speak for his cohorts, but he’s deeply engaged in their proclivities such as being an angel climate tech investor and is immersed in. psychological climate technology. He describes the latter as blending behavioral science and digital tools to address how environment impacts mental health. And how psychology drives climate action. “I study emotional support with humans and how it differs from AI …” he explains.

‘THEY CAN’T RELAX AND ENJOY LIFE’

He’s a soft-spoken, introspective young man, who grew up in Paris, and is concerned about how and why his friends and colleagues view themselves; and how wine is not something they have incorporated into their lives. Because he believes, “I do think people are conscious about wine, but they can’t relax and enjoy life.”

Why is that, you might ask, thinking you know the answer. I learned some things. For instance, did you realize that because of the immense difficulty of finding meaningful work Luigi tells me, some young folks, who do hold down a job, don’t dare to drink for fear that they won’t get up early enough to get to that job. Drinking they fret, will render them in less than optimum shape to perform that job.

Or, as he relates, “People are over-indulging and then moderating. And they might have been drinking too much. But they don’t respect the craft and the culture of wine. … Growing up over there (Paris), there’s a culture of wine. People are more respectful. Here, being in college, there’s (an atmosphere) which leads to abuse. Wine is something that takes more work, such as with a good bottle of wine.”

“I over-indulged. I used to use wine as self-medicating,” admits Luigi Maruani

During the pandemic, he shares, “I self-moderated and then I had anxiety, and I over-indulged. I used to use wine as self-medicating.”

In other words, the things that you’d guess were factors in Gen Zers drinking to excess and then not drinking to moderate, i.e. phones, politics, wars, social media, and AI, are definitely influence-bombardments. Those, coupled with constant rising prices (for wine, rent, etc.) and health warnings, it’s evident that deterrents are coming from every corner and aimed straight at the hearts and minds of young people.

“There’s too much imbalance when people have to get to work the next day,” says Maruani.

‘SOBER RAVES’!

And then there’s this: “People are going to ‘sober raves’,” he says, startling me, “and at 10 a.m., listening to House music(!)” (Exclamation point mine.) Didn’t raves used to start at midnight? Which leads me to conclude, everything I know, is wrong.

On one hand, moderation, being careful, sober and responsible, is a very good thing. But more than a couple of times, Maruani forewarns of the liabilties of virtue: “People don’t know how to relax and have a good time.”

The young man is clearly enamored with and knowledgeable about wine and seems to soak up any information I might offer. He’s eager to show me his large wine fridge situated off the kitchen, the latter of which is crammed with wine artifacts such as glasses, openers and other paraphernalia, which indicates that a wine lover lives here.

One of Luigi’s eclectic wines: a 2021 Canary Islands white. Note the color.

He has, I’m guessing, about 30 bottles. Burgundies, some Californians, and to my delight, wines from Corsica, the Canary Islands, the Bourassa. Luigi opens a white for me to try from the Canary’s, a Tamerán Vijariego Blanco. Its deep golden color is beautiful but may be indicative of what’s in the glass. Sure enough, the wine is a bit oxidized. I find out later, the winemaker’s raison d’etre is intentional because he utilizes minimal sulfur dioxide. It gives the wine a lovely patina and an idiosyncrasy that I find true of Maruani himself.

Sound baths to soothe the soul

He tries hard to get his friends to understand and enjoy wine. To do that, he hosts dinner parties. He also has group meditations and “sound baths” in his apartment, augmented by three large cylindrical vessels that, when hit gently with a specially made “stick”; its chimes are serene, mellifluous, soothing.

“Not everyone is super-pessimistic,” he concludes. “They’re trying to make the world a better place. It’s not hopeless. And adds, “I do think humanity will persevere.”

Luigi Maruani makes me hopeful, too.