Meet Chung-Pin Lin: world-renowned blind winemaker and vineyard consultant
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries
Chung-Pin Lin, who lost his sight to retinal cancer at age two, is winemaker at Waipara’s Mountford Estate, and a vineyard consultant in Australia, Europe and the United States.
He said the blindness had not affected his winemaking skills, although the perception he had heightened senses was incorrect.
“I certainly do use the other four senses more because when you lose one you do tend to compensate a bit more, but to say I’m better because of the sight loss, that’s actually not true,” he said.
“You still have to be born with the talent for tasting and have the understanding of the wine industry. It’s more the fact that I’m good at what I do.”
However, talent did not always result in tolerance from others.
Lin said he told classmates while studying at Lincoln University in 1995 that his goal was to make the best pinot noir in New Zealand.
“Quite a lot of my classmates laughed. It was not a very good response.”
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Then…
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