Romancing the Vine
My love affair with wine
Summary
I’ve been drinking wine for over 40 years, visited countless wineries, read loads of books on the subject, have a 35+ case collection — and still feel like an amateur. Do you know people that can rattle off obscure statistics about sports teams & players? I know people that can do that about winemakers and wines.
I’m a drinker — not a thinker — when it comes to imbibing this beverage. My journey probably started out with something approachable & sweet (like white zinfandel) and now spans the globe and seeks complexity. Here are some things I learned along the way; I hope they increase your enjoyment of this delicious drink!
“I’ll have a white zinfandel, hold the ice”
This is a quote from a woman I had dinner with in Milwaukee years ago. I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing when she said that to our server. This was the first time it dawned on me that I had passed a significant milestone in my travels: I had become a wine snob.
In retrospect I think her enthusiasm for ordering something she actually liked (versus something to impress) was admirable. There’s nothing wrong with sweet, approachable wines — they can be a refreshing delight at times that I thoroughly enjoy — but I’ve also ventured beyond them to seek more complexity and nuance.
For every season…
I find myself gravitating towards lighter white wines in the heat of summer, and towards more full-bodied reds during winter. Seasons definitely affect what I’m pulling out of my cellar.
There’s something almost transcendental about sipping a cool glass of white wine in the shade on a hot summer day. You can probably tell I really enjoy drinking! I’ve got friends that drinking is almost a “shrug” for. I don’t get that — I’ve always enjoyed a special kind of euphoria when having a glass of wine. My biggest challenge is knowing when to say when — it’s easy for me to get lost in the joy of it. To be honest though after 3 glasses I’m not sure I appreciate the subtleties anymore.
Storage is everything
Properly storing wine is a must. My wife & I are lucky enough to have a second home in the mountains that makes a perfect storage facility for cases of wine. It stays relatively cool up there even in summers, and anywhere that gets even close to the conditions of a wine cave will do the trick.
I’ve found that buying mediocre wines by the case and storing them up there for a few years turns them into real standouts! I have a short list of California winemakers that comprise the backbone of my collection:
- Rodney Strong
- Kendall Jackson
- Liberty School
- Beaulieu Vineyard
- Robert Mondavi
- Franciscan Estate
I buy Pinot Noirs, Merlots, Cabernet Sauvignons, and Zinfandels from these wineries and given their consistency over the years I don’t even bother checking the ratings on them.
Serving temperature is important
Do you know what the great equalizer is for wines? Serving them directly out of the refrigerator. That’s too cold for anything but champagne and will make a poorly crafted wine taste OK and a great wine taste OK. Serving them at room temperature is also a mistake: it will accentuate the alcohol and tannins in the wine and lead to a very unbalanced experience.
There’s a reason you see wine fridges in the homes of people who really enjoy wine. It’s the only way to fly! Different grape varietals benefit from being served at specific temperatures — a winemaker always has a serving temperature in mind when crafting their wares. In general, white wines should be served colder (think mid to upper 50 degrees Fahrenheit) and red wines warmer (mid to upper 60 degrees Fahrenheit).
You can approximate these temperatures by figuring out how long you need to cool your wines off in your standard refrigerator. It’ll take some experimentation and practice, but the results will be well worth it!
Storage is a different issue. All wines should be stored away from any sunlight and between 55- and 60-degrees Fahrenheit.
I follow Wine Spectator ratings religiously
When I venture out from my “standard” stock of California wines I always use the Wine Spectator ratings as a guide. What I’ve found is that any wine with a rating of 93 is going to have a high hit rate with me; any wine with a 94 or above is going to blow my mind, assuming I like the grape varietal. There are plenty of wonderful reviewers out there so if WS doesn’t work for you I’d encourage you to find one that better aligns with your taste buds.
Wine.com is an easy online source for ordering wines since they allow me to sort specifically by WS rating and price (among other things). I almost always have bottles teed-up in my shopping cart so I’m never at a loss for what to grab when the time comes. They also include little stickers to put on the back of each bottle that show the ratings & price — very handy!
Costco stemware is fine for most wine
I have a pretty large stock of stemware from Costco, and it does the job fine on most occasions. Their glasses are affordable so if I break one (it happens) I’m not going to get tied in knots about it. I have the red, white, and champagne glasses and use them frequently. Plus, they’re dishwasher safe which is a real time-saver!
Every now & then — always based upon some price threshold I have in my mind at the time — I’ll break out the good crystal. There’s something that really amps up my enjoyment of the wine when I use them, but I’m always scared to death I’ll break one when handwashing or drying them.
We have a saying in our house: “Hulk smash stuff.” I walked down to a local retailer to replace one of our (broken) red wine crystal glasses a couple of years ago and the two people helping me looked at me like I was from another planet when I told them I broke it drying it. They had never heard of such a thing! I’m not a super-hero so I’m pretty sure their other customers aren’t telling them the whole truth when ordering more.
Opening a bottle can be more than a chore
Over the years I’ve probably used just about every bottle opener out there. I was always focused on ergonomics and how easy the opener was to use. There are a lot of great choices out there and I encourage you to try a bunch and see which one rings your bell.
For me, I finally gravitated towards using a Laguiole en Aubrac opener exclusively. It’s a splurge but makes opening a bottle of wine a full-blown production rather than just a chore!
With modern manufacturing techniques corked bottles are somewhat of a rarity these days but you still need to be on guard. I’d say 1 out of every 200 bottles (0.5%) in my cellar has been corked (compromised and undrinkable due to leakage in the cork). Screwcaps and synthetic corks you don’t need to worry about — they never leak. When removing a traditional cork look for signs of leakage on the top of it and along the sides. If you see traces of wine along the cork you should be vigilant the bottle isn’t corked. Smell the wine: if there’s little to no bouquet you should worry. Taste the wine: if it’s flat and a little like vinegar pour it down the drain and fetch another bottle. Better safe than sorry. If you are even a little concerned about the wine, dump it!
Conclusion
Well, I hope something I’ve shared about my passion for drinking wine has resonated with you. If you’ve got additional tips please leave them in the comments, and cheers!
- Drink what you like (not to impress)
- Let the season dictate the wine
- Store wine out of sunlight and between 55- and 60-degrees Fahrenheit
- Serve each wine at the optimal temperature
- Find a rating that works for you & stick with it
- Use affordable stemware (you will break it)
- Splurge on a bottle opener!
