Sophia is a psychology student and works as a waitress in a German wine tavern that has the following written on the wall: “In vino caritas.” She and her regular guest Martin, a musician, chat about God, the world and the rest. They think they know more about wine than the guests. So Sophia doesn’t serve them the glass they ordered, but a wine that she thinks suits their life situation better, whether two are arguing or a love story is brewing. The Budel philosophers prescribe the right wines for the wrong lives of others. “There are days,” says Sophia, “when you need a cold white wine to get the feeling.”
“Cork”, the title of the novel, which is actually a collection of short stories, cannot be compared to other books. Wild but articulate, the authors meander through inner monologues and everyday observations. For example, about “drinking on labels”: “A gentle stroke à la Picasso, a loathsome dog’s head, a cryptic element of math formulas, a revolver, tits – I’ve become the victim of wine labels, I’ve drunk a lot of superfluous, messed-up trash because I the label soldered the synapses together in some way,” confesses Sophia. That’s why she demands wine labels with the following motifs: “Dental practice, nuclear war, special sales tax audit.”
Which wine to lovesick?
An ironic, brash tone dominates in “Kork”, the metaphors such as the wine recommendations are strongly North German. An Austrian has nevertheless made it into Sophia’s wine universe, Judith Beck’s Zweigelt Bambule. It is used to treat lovesickness. The Zweigelt can be easily combined with “Central Cemetery, Fladerei and the Museum of Broken Relationships”. But it also goes well with the poems by Erich Fried and the texts by Roland Barthes. You can cry a little between glasses.
For euphoric moments, the wine recommendation is: Pataphysique Domaine Jules Desjourney, Beaujolais Villages. When high spirits and wine go hand in hand, late at night you step onto the balcony in a frilly shirt, sing the Internationale and declaim to the delight of the neighbors: “And if they lead me to the guillotine today, chère Juliette, I’ll happily whistle this song and spit mine for the bourgeoisie Bile in her pale face!”
As amusing as the walks through the authors’ sedative hedonism are, they do not forget to mention that “Kork” is not about “stupid wine propaganda”, but about good wine, which is also a “sneaky charmer in per thousand”. Sophia and Martin borrowed the “buddy system” from diving, i.e. always diving with a friend who looks after you and vice versa. “If you see your buddy in distress because things are getting out of hand, act! Until then: cheers!
Source: Nachrichten
