iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Happy Christmas to the 600 or so of you who've found your way to this more pleasant place. Hopefully, next year that number - and more importantly, the number of people on this platform - will have grown a LOT. I very much doubt Muskland is going to become any more agreeable any time soon

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Here's a treat: 20 year-old Bob Dylan's first ever recording - playing harmonica for all he's worth on a Harry Belafonte track. Thanks to BBC R4 Add to Playlist for introducing me to it bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... open.spotify.com/track/5ZOcgv...

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

If you have any interest in art and the way it is discussed, please watch this. www.instagram.com/reel/DCtvs6N...

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

A long morning blending a gastronomic K'AVSHIRI Georgian rosé with Vladimer Kublashvili,using co-fermented Saperavi-Mtsvane, direct-pressed, barrel-fermented Ojaleshi, some Aleksandrouli, and air-dried Aladasturi bled from a qvevri after 24 hours.

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Watching TV in Georgia. The coverage is pretty much the same every night. The mood of the protests is youthful and generally non-violent. But the military police with the face coverings that only reveal their eyes never become less forbidding

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

As spotted in a shop window in Kutaisi, Georgia: a patriotic, pro-EU Santa, silently offering his support to the thousands of anti-government protesters a few streets away.

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

For a Briton used to seeing his countrymen using the cross of St George as a nationalist-anti-European symbol, it is surreal to be here in Kutaisi, Georgia's 3rd city, where protesters firmly associate *their* flag with being fervently pro-EU.

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Tbilisi, midnight 29, November 2024. "Back in the USSR" You can't see the protests, but they're happening down there, and older Georgians are openly talking about their fears of being controlled by Moscow Again

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

The Carpe Diem wine shop in Chisinau, Moldova, is also a great place to drink a glass or two (from a wide range) with some ham and cheese.

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

A Chilean, onion-infused wine produced for Korea that used to have a cult following in that country The name - 1879 - refers to the number of holes on a golf course and a round of 79 shots The 2015 was soft, jammy, and, yes, subtly onionny

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Ion Luca's Moldovan Carpe Diem brand is instantly recognisable from the black-and-white portraits on its many labels. This orange wine, made from the muscatty local Viorica is the first to stray out of monochrome The wine is memorably good too

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I am a firm believer in karma. So, after being responsible for countless seemingly interminable International Wine Challenge awards in many countries, it is only just that I feel as though I have been watching these Wine of Moldova competition results for 8 hours. (actually only 81 minutes so far)

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

It's the small green leaf that makes all the difference to the subtly varied colours of this dish...

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Text on door (in Chisinau, Moldova) reads "We were looking for a spot With mindful.bites and sips Cozy chats and shameless dances We didn't find it We're creating it" I've no idea what their place will be like (I hope to find out on another visit) but I love the copywriting

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

If you ever wondered why porcelain tends to be white... here's another option... (If it looks grey, in fact, I think it might have been described as 'satin' black)

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

1903 chimney + heater in National University of Moldova offices in Chisinau

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

In case you ever needed to say 'I love you' in Romanian/Moldovan...

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Foucault Pendulum in National University of Moldova

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Bonjour Cafe, from the other side

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

One of my favourite places: Bonjour Cafe in Central Park, Chisinau, Moldova

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

So, we ran a blind tasting with local wine media of Moldovan wines + similarly priced UK best-sellers: The Guv'nor/ Mucho Mas + La Vieille Ferme The non-Moldovans were well received, though some noticed the red Guv'nor sweetness (18g/l)

Moldovan and best-selling Spanish + French wines

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

8 bottles of wine - in the unglamorous socks, and the case that - with the help of other clothes - protected them through 4 flights... From the UK-Frankfurt-Belgrade-Istanbul-Chisnau, Moldova Hopefully, all sealed with Diam or screw cap. It would be a pity to have gone to all this trouble for TCA

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

NYC-based, French candidate, Pascaline Lepeltier, on stage, competing in ASI European, Asian, African Sommelier Championship (She came a very close second to the Estonian Mikke Parre)

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Poster for New Year's eve event in Belgrade, Serbia is a reminder that what plays well in one culture may not always play as well in others

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Attractively-labeled, clean, very well-made natural wines from Bikicky in Fruska Gora, Serbia

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Artwork? Or winter tree-protection in Fruska Gora, Serbia?

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

View over the Danube from the Sapat winery + restaurant in Fruska Gora, Serbia

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Wine Thinker @robertjoseph.bsky.social · 09/11/2024

I can't remember when I last handed someone a business card. Now, I just invite people to scan the QR code in my phone. If you want a code, here's where to get one: www.qrcode-monkey.com

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