I Can Never Stop Wining!
Well, I certainly do love my wine. Not much of an officianado, but I know what I like. A good California Cab or French Chablis - Count me in!
My brother and his friends all work in the biz. Oenophiles, oenologists and cellar rats galore - but definitely wine snobs. Nothing is quite right - AND - when you get the group together, it’s difficult for one of them to be the first to admit that they actually like a vintage because another in the group may find it below standard.
With that as background, imagine a great trip to Napa with a few of ‘dem in da biznez’. Nice visit, but my undiscerning palette was no contest for ‘dem’.
So, what’s the point of this? Well, you don’t have to know everything there is about wine to know what you like or what made the drinking of that wine such a wonderful experience.
Was it the wine? Or was it the setting or the company? Aren’t the company and the occasion half of why it was so wonderful?
Growing up, I recall many a holiday dinner with family drinking a bottle of Lancer’s ‘Rose-Ay”. My father only wanted the best at holiday dinner. What did we know about wine then? Not much of anything, but we remember the wonderful smell of the food, the conversation, and mutual sharing of that great vintage. Yes, the memory of it all!
I also recall sharing a wonderful experience with my Mom, just the two of us driving two hours to Erie, PA to see Lake Erie for the first time and after a brief drive through Presque Isle, continuing north through North East, PA and seeing all the wineries. Who would have imagined? I didn’t even know they were there.
If you haven’t taken the time to visit that area, you’re really missing something. Ever driven the Pacific Coast Highway in California? Well, that’s what it reminded me of - Lake Erie to your left - big as that ocean - and the vineyards on the right. You could smell those grapes! The visits to the surrounding wineries and the tastes and friendliness of everyone, made it even more of a wonderful memory. My husband hasn’t yet seen it or sampled the vintages, but it is on the list of things we’re going to do - not sometime - but soon!
Then there was that great too many bottles of wine in Cassis, France. The smell of the night air and that small hotel overlooking the Mediterranean. Was it the wine or was it the company? As I said, I’m not in the “Bidnez”, but I think the company had something to do with it.
My point today - Eat, drink and be merry! Enjoy the moment and the wine! AND stop whining about the wine!
