Rather memorably – if not because it was highly rehearsed, he would impart his own cultural wisdom onto us between meals and volleys of mint-tea ‘Berber Whisky.’ I think the point he made most strongly was ‘what’s bad for the rest of the world, is good for Berber.’ Primarily – at the heart of it, he was referring to the perception of most in the west that being without money or a place to live is the worst imaginable fate. Whilst for the nomad possessions are often a weight, and the path of desire is one which is unending with constantly moving goal posts. Following directly from the first piece of wisdom was the Berber proverb – ‘the man who is always in a rush, is already in the grave.’

As a young millennial working in marketing in a world of blogs, search-engines, information-aggregators and constantly-on interconnectivity with the world through my news-feeds, newsvine.com, skype, messenger, social networks and g-mail – I must concede that to be in the middle of the Sahara where electricity only trickles in through the generator with enough power to illuminate a couple light-bulbs, and water is collected through capturing condensation, one is perhaps given an unmatched opportunity to pause and take life in a way that no longer seems possible back-home: slowly and as it comes.

Wine is perhaps the greatest excuse we have to sit back and take stock. So often the perception of youth is of an imperative to keep up and constantly expend a frenetic sort of energy rather than just being content to sit back and live in the current moment. No-doubt the alcohol in wine is an incredible relaxant – but more than that, there’s an incomparable depth to each product. I think people sometimes expect to have a sip of wine and for everything to be apparent right there and then – much like it is with a blended Scotch, a beer or a can of Coke. But unlike most things marketed to us, wine is perhaps among one of the only products appealing to millennials in the current marketplace which actually challenges people to find out more, and can fuel discussions at the same time as fostering friendships. I this way wine is like jazz, haiku poetry or smoking a joint – in that it takes you on a journey, and each visit could result in multiple different journeys.

Sitting out with Jacqueline on the knife-edge of one of the larger dunes, overlooking the red sands as they turned a luminescent-blue whilst the sun set and the moon ascended, (even though I would have killed for something deeply rich in red fruit – like a Garnacha Syrah blend…) sans a glass of wine, my mind was still given the distance from the hectic City life, which is a feeling of tranquillity I usually only associate with two glasses of wine. Maybe that’s what wine offers us: escape. Having a glass of wine at the end of the day is not about ‘needing a drink’ but rather taking the time to enjoy the present moment – and in a time when millenials are in such a rush to grow up and fewer people are really fundamentally enjoying what it means to be young – we could all do with taking a little time out to be in the moment, with wine being the conduit between normal life and tranquillity.

Related posts

• Ruarri Returns… and Hello to Meghan
• Passion on the Vine – a review

2007 was a tremendous learning curve for us, and 2008 will be the year that our vision of millennial marketing comes to life and we look forward to sharing it with you all.

There’s quite a bit to catch up on from my side, seeing as I haven’t written a post in a while, but we have plenty time for that.

I’d like to introduce a friend of mine to you all, Meghan O’Malley. Meg has just moved to Paris and has agreed to write on our blog about her wine-centric experiences over there, so we’re very privileged to have her writing for us. I first met Meghan in Cape Town, whilst she was on a university exchange from New York. In fact, we first properly met on the Warwick Wine Estate for a tasting of their selection.

Since then, our friendship and wine have been inextricably linked, which makes for easy birthday shopping! Meg will probably be gracing us with her presence on a weekly basis, and when she leaves Paris will be spending a year in the Hamptons wielding her wine-knowledge on the power-set of New York, which I hope she’ll keep us in the loop on.

From my side, my weekly post is coming back into effect starting now so stay tuned. And, as has been the case for all of 2008 so far, Jake and Greg will continue to be part of our stellar line up.

ps. For those of you interested – I just got back from Morocco and if you’d like to check out my pics ->then here’s the link<- unfortunately, as Moroccos is under Sharia, there is no alcohol – so I drank a lot of coffee and virtually no wine…

Related posts

• Reflecting on Morocco
• Passion on the Vine – a review