Wine is a Journey

Before I could even drink I knew there was something special about this particular brand of volatile smelling grape juice. I had seen all the members of my family drink the stuff. My parents, both of whom were and still aren't big drinkers, drink it. My aunts and uncles, who boarder on the edge of snob and connoisseur, drink it by the case in prices ranging from twenty five to several hundred dollars. My grandparents drink their Santa Margarita Pino Grigio and obscure Chiantis every night just after cocktail hour into the late evening.  And even with all the differences in palates, life styles, and interests the drink still brings all of them together at one table once a week for a family evening. 

Fast forward to me, twenty three years of age and a dilettante in the world of wine. I too now get to take part in those family libations. I'm the new story at the table and my palate, life style and interests are just as different. 

For me there is an allure to drinking wine unlike any other beverage. From the second its uncorked and the aroma starts to permeate the air, to the way it flows, bottle to glass, with the color catching the light as it dances its way down. It's a sexy beverage. One that, in my imagination, only the social elite and intellectual giants ever consume and yet here I am drinking this mythic liquid. 

But that's what is so incredible about it. For the briefest instance when I uncork that bottle I am counted as a member of the social elite and the intellectual giants. At least that's the way three or four glasses makes me feel, And once the hangover of reality sets in and we all wake up to find that the intellectuals and socialites are right there with the rest of us. Wine, like at my family's dinner table, is a great equalizer. 

Wine for me is a journey, and for the few short years that I've been on it I've already progressed quite a bit. I can tell that my tastes have shifted from the loud, fruit forward and spiced reds of my yesteryears to more subtle and hidden flavors. The kind that tempt you, almost mock you to come and try to describe them. 

I feel that the only way I can continue on this journey is to become a better taster. I want to be able to find the subtleties and underliers and eventually I want to be able to blind taste like the great sommliers. I want to be able to smell the region. I want to be able to taste the history. I want to be able to tell a New World Merlot from and Old World. I want to be able to make the most informed decision about what wine to pair with what food. I want to drink wine. 

That's where I stand. Somewhere in the warm glow of a candle lit restaurant, the low light electrical hum of a wine bar or the last glare of the vineyard's evening sun. There are a few wines behind me and hopefully a lot more to come.