About
As a college student, my wine expertise was limited to the consumption of 1.5-liter jugs of ice-cold Carlo Rossi chablis during urban expeditions on hot summer nights. We held them by one finger over our shoulders like pirates and drank them fast before they got too warm. In the wintertime, it was a Hungarian red called Egri Bikaver (“Bull’s Blood”). Paired with too many cigarettes, it attacked our already bone-dry palettes and produced colossal hangovers.
Almost 20 years later, I’ve learned a little more about wine here and there, but my most frequent lesson is this: within the vast boundaries of varietals, producers, brands and the astronomical swing in price and quality, there exist countless opportunities to be a fool — and therefore learn something — about wine.
I’m not a wine expert with a refined palate, but a writer who has caught the wine bug. I started buying, drinking and studying wine more intensely beginning in 2006. That “study” includes personal experience — challenging my unrefined palate and allergy-afflicted nose — but also reading books, blogs and websites; talking to wine sellers, experts and other enthusiasts; attending tastings and informal classes; and traveling to some of the wine regions of the world. But mostly the buying and the drinking. I learn something every time I open a bottle of wine.
The United States is on the verge of becoming the largest consumer of wine, by country, in the world. By 2012, Americans are expected to drink 330 million cases, or 3.96 billion bottles of wine, per year. That represents both an opportunity and an obligation for us: to bring up quality with our quantity, to branch out, take a chance, and learn a little as we wag the dog of the world wine market.
During a trip to France a few summers ago, I deferred to a waiter at the restaurant Chez Jean in Paris to choose a bottle of wine for our meal. He brought out an excellent Burgundy, and at the end of the evening — after we nearly knocked over the table twice and were scolded for trying to pour our own water — we emphatically thanked him for the perfect wine pairing. He responded to our compliments with a marvelous French wit I hadn’t experienced before:
“Well, you made an excellent choice, sir.”
I’m still light years from his level, but I’m having a great time closing the gap, and it’s my hope to share some of what I’m learning with other folks that, like me, are not experts, collectors or connoisseurs. At least not yet.
