“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein

Stefania
Freedom and the arrival into Pahlevi in Persia were welcome, but for Stefania it was a time where her life would hang by a thread. Having survived one and a half years in a hard labor camp and the harrowing exodus from the frozen wastelands of Siberia, Stefania arrived into the heat of the desert, weak and suffering malnutrition. It wasn’t long before typhoid would take a strong hold and it would be a miracle if she would survive. But the Shah of Persia was a kind and generous man, offering his palaces as a refuge for the sick – and it was here that Stefania would be cared for and nursed back to health.

With a little determination, a little backbone and a little luck, I’m about to conduct my first ever wine tasting. “So, what are we tasting today” asks the professor (donned in knee length shorts). “Archangel 2008 Pinot Noir” I nervously reply. “Yes, just one bottle to show, and yes, just bottled last month” I add. They sniff, they sip, they swirl and sniff again – silence. Suddenly, I’m overcome with a heavy feeling of dread inside my stomach. What was I thinking of? I’m doing a wine tasting with, not only one wine, but one very youthful bottle of wine and, I’m presenting this wine to perhaps, the two most enthusiastic wine connoissNZDs at Oxford University. The weight inside my stomach slowly turns to panic and I cannot bear the silence any longer. I blurt out, “so, what do you think?” The seated professor with his shoulder length, silver hair (and sideburns to match) looks at me, nods and smiles – “good” he says, “yes , very good!” This was three years ago.

Now, if these oak paneled walls could talk, what secrets would they reveal, I wondered? A moment of fleeting thoughts are distracted, as the butler places a dish of delicately sliced marinated beef carpaccio in front of me. He pours a generous amount of Archangel 2008 Pinot Noir into my glass. The food is delicious, the wine tasting better than I can ever remember… What a great room this is; the Senior Common Room, where many a famous Oxonian once wined and dined. I wonder…how many bottles of Archangel 2008 and 2009 Pinot Noir do they have left in the wine cellars beneath the college halls? The professor (donned in knee length shorts) and the professor with his shoulder length, silver hair (and sideburns to match), raise their glasses and turn to me. They nod, they smile and together they say “yes, very, very good.”

So what’s my point here? Well, I don’t have marketing skills, but what I do have is better – passion, determination and a strong belief. A long time ago I had a vision; that Archangel wine would one day be at home at Oxford University. After all, what better place than in the college cellars for a wine to mature and age gracefully, and perhaps, if it be possible, to draw wisdom and inspiration from her room mates Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lafite. To one day be placed on tables where famous Oxonians once sat. To share the journey, the story with the future leaders of this world. Yes, it may have taken effort, spirit and determination, but it was worth it. Today, I’d like to thank my new friends – the professor (donned in knee length shorts) and the professor with shoulder length, silver hair (with sideburns to match) – Yes, I’d like to thank you for your vision, your faith and your generousity towards Archangel.