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Wine Religion? - 4/9/2017 11:50:08 AM

djlevin

Posts: 226
Joined: 6/26/2011
From: Tempe, AZ
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I posted this recently and wrote it without having to drink a bottle alone (missed experience?). Anyway, thought others on the board might be able to relate, or appreciate?

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Lately, I have been reflecting on my appreciation of beverage options and its evolution. I realized the shifting landscape started to look more like the Passion of Christ, than just an aging palate. Before you all begin questioning my sanity, I had a bit of an epiphany recently and realized my passion for wine has evolved in the last few years and has me wondering if a wine re-birth is in my future, or whether wine salvation is my inevitable path. I apologize in advance to the fundamentalist crowd for the analogy... and to those under 50 - no I am NOT a hopelessly depressed old geezer. This is actually what life is like, when you have the time and inclination to evaluate why and how you and the things around you are changing.

Let me explain...

My passion for wine is nearing its 20th year now and its landscape has encompassed everything from a tenuous personal justification, to an impatient anticipation for the next experience. So many recent factors have influenced my relationship with wine appreciation, it has me questioning where this is headed. I have been through many phases (perhaps you can relate?): introduction, interest, evaluation, searching, awareness, intimacy, financial justification, formal education, serious collecting... what's next? I drink substantially more spirits and beer, than I do wine now. There have been several influencing factors:

* I prefer red wine, but live in a hot climate - making it difficult to drink wine year round. I am sure there are those out there saying, discover the joy of white wine for the Summer. For me, white wine is much easier to appreciate when drunk with food... Red wine is easier for me to enjoy by itself. Also, beer is definitely the beverage of choice on a hot day.

* We all get older and deal with a slowing down of our metabolism. I remember drinking wine every day and working my way through 200-300 bottles each year... no more. I stopped that habit and lost 15 pounds in a month. Small batch whiskey became my go-to after work to wind-down. Two fingers of whiskey helped me to relax at half the calories of two glasses of wine... which inevitably moved on to the balance of the bottle with dinner.

* My wife became mildly allergic to red wines and the stuff seemed to spark the flame that became a torch, when stoked. Turning down the air conditioning while drinking red wine, became the standard practice.

My wine cellar has moved from some 700 bottles to under 500 in the last few years and now has me wondering (after my favorite wine allocations): how will my wife and I drink all this wine before I kick the bucket? All that being said, I miss the mellow, introspective euphoria that comes with a couple of glasses of classic red wine, or the sensual enjoyment of exotic layering of flavors and aromas... that often leads to other things :-) I used to worship at the altar of the wine experience, using wine appreciation to fill my life with friends and entertainment. Now, it has become an opportunity three, or four times a month, to appreciate a great wine-food experience.

Where is all this headed? Can I re-kindle that sort of focused passion that filled much of my social life before, or will I constantly be looking for forgiveness from my community and be happy with the "salvation" of an occasional out-of-body wine experience? I have vacation wine travel planned for later in the year. Will it be the spark?

_____________________________

What if there were no hypothetical questions? - Anonymous

Didn't I ever tell you? Bumbles Bounce! - Yukon Cornelius

Post #: 1

RE: Wine Religion? - 4/9/2017 12:53:24 PM

CranBurgundy

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Joined: 1/5/2016
From: Philly / South Joizey
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Preferences change. Don't overanalyze; just go with it. I was cuckoo for cocoa puffs when I was a kid, but now I can't live without some type of pork product for breakfast. 10 years ago my discretionary income went to watches. Now it goes to wine. Either is better than getting stuffed in a stripper's G-string. (which I'm sure my wife agrees with)

_____________________________

Purple Drankin' Cretin.

Vote NO on Proposition S1ct1516 "BAN the CRAN!" this Election Day.

“Let it be recorded: henceforth, December 15 shall be known as 'The Day of Dennis'.” - Prof. Ken "KPB" Birman, 12/17/23

(in reply to djlevin)

Post #: 2

RE: Wine Religion? - 4/9/2017 2:01:55 PM

champagneinhand

Posts: 10282
Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
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I am right there with you and also share Cranburgundy's thing for watches. I too love the wine experience but I am also drinking much more beer and custom cocktails as my wife is not a red wine drinker either. I'm trying to make myself drink a couple glasses of red as when I stopped my HDL/LDL is the worst it been in a decade.

I've loved wine for going on 30 years, but I finished high school and spent part of my collegiate Summer's right belle San Francisco.

I rarely buy the new releases but in small quantities. It not that I don't think I won't enjoy them with time but I still have almost 900 bottles of carefully selected wines. If my health and budget allowed it I would drink a great dessert wine every day but I don't want to jump in that diabetic boat.

I do smoke cigars. Sometimes 2+ per day when warm. Luckily it's not a warm region per se.

The worst is to visit an seriously poverty stricken area of the world an crave a good cigar and wine, which is about what the average person with employment makes in a week.

There are no easy answers but we were born where we were, we do kind things and try to help where we can.

Getting older is turning out to be much more expensive than I had hoped and with decreasing funds, I have had to send some of my choicest wines off to auction, but I try not to fret as somebody will really enjoy those bottles.

As Cran stated we could be addicted to hookers and blow, and we just can't rule that out of there is some weird end of the world scenario, and yes I stole that from WIML. Enjoy as much as you can while in this ride. Live, have great conversations and by all means do some solo traveling. It gives dome perspectives as well as let's you return to enjoy your wine nest a new.

As for the watches, I really need to sell most of them. Old Doug told me this a long time ago. Share you best wine with relative newbs as many other aging wine fans did with us. Some of my greatest pleasures are seeing others have wine moments with bottles I have brought. As for cigars, while I love them and probably won't ever give them up, they aren't as destructive as the cigarettes. It certainly is easier to have a stogie with aged spirits, mixed cocktails, or beer than a nice red, but surprisingly some reds work too.

We could be funding some horrible things in this world but right now our disposable incomes, however small they are becoming fund jobs. I can live with that. They aren't funding wars. Trust me though as I know where you are coming in this. I've drawn some lines in the sand, like saying I will not sell my top 2000 Bordeaux. But I have to have some flexibility as well.

The kids college and such is insanely expensive.

In the end, we could have lost everything at the track or pushed it up our nose or veins.

Thank God we didn't. Hopefully we picked wines that we can enjoy well into our 70s-80s+ if we get there, or we have some kids that won't hug them. Sadly we can't dictate the layout of the world.

You try to help the needy, be compassionate and if you decide to let some bottles go or slow the buying of new releases, there will be others that have been graciously waiting on lists or glad to score a well kept bottle on the auction. Don't limit yourself.

Life will be dictating this soon enough.

Wine is a noble thing. I've grown the grapes, tried my hands at making the stuff and have distilled the stuff that didn't work out right. I hope I can drink it up to the day I die. Again, just enjoy it while you are still able. Nothing wrong with slowing down. There are more than a few of us that have taken some slow down time for health, weight loss or preventing divorces. Really it will be okay.

_____________________________

As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

(in reply to CranBurgundy)

Post #: 3

RE: Wine Religion? - 4/9/2017 3:25:33 PM

OceanExpress

Posts: 115
Joined: 11/13/2013
From: Reston, VA
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OH... thanks so much djlevin. now you might have me turned onto whiskey in hopes of losing a couple pounds :)

-Tom

(in reply to djlevin)

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RE: Wine Religion? - 4/10/2017 8:03:07 AM

Old Doug

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Joined: 5/12/2011
From: Atlanta, Georgia, US
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Good thread, Doug (djlevin). Happy upcoming 'Heinz' birthday, too. Oh, to think that the big 60 will be poking its head over the horizon before too long...

The fact is that we all slow down, one way or another. I really like the somewhat stream-of-consciousness feel to the posts here thus far.

Last year and this one so far, I'm also drinking more hard liquor and beer, versus wine, than was formerly true. A lot of that is due to frequenting hotels and restaurants that have excellent liquor and beer, and abominable wines.

(in reply to djlevin)

Post #: 5

RE: Wine Religion? - 4/10/2017 11:13:31 AM

klaus3974

Posts: 189
Joined: 7/21/2016
From: Living in Geneva, Switzerland
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Interesting topic. I wonder if this is a common trend. I am in my early 40s and the only alcoholic drink I like is wine. I actually dislike beer and hard liquor. I wonder if that would change... I would not like to build a cellar that I would not drink. At current consumption rates I am covered for the next 10 years... of course if I do not buy wine but that would not happen.

(in reply to Old Doug)

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RE: Wine Religion? - 4/12/2017 7:36:28 AM

djlevin

Posts: 226
Joined: 6/26/2011
From: Tempe, AZ
Status: offline

Thanks for the comments!

Doug, am I that old already? Will need to start writing that in my underwear, so I can remember...

This issue doesn't keep me up at night, but it just adds one more thing to consider as my life changes. I do miss the anticipation of upcoming wine events and the excitement of discovering the next great wine. I also held more wine parties and even served wine-food pairing dinners. Oh well... I wonder what my next passion will be? Please, no watches. I have seen what some of my friends pay for those things!

Doug

_____________________________

What if there were no hypothetical questions? - Anonymous

Didn't I ever tell you? Bumbles Bounce! - Yukon Cornelius

(in reply to klaus3974)

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RE: Wine Religion? - 4/12/2017 7:34:19 PM

Old Doug

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Joined: 5/12/2011
From: Atlanta, Georgia, US
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quote:

ORIGINAL: djlevin

Doug, am I that old already?

Doug, yes, but it's not really a bad thing.

(Fairly often, I think of past times, of being younger, of opportunities missed, of tragedies not avoided. My question to myself is, if I could go back and do things over, would I? Of course there are temptations and certain events that are attractive targets for change, but no - no way do I want to go back, overall.)

I think CTers tend to be pretty successful, on average, for their raw number of years. Still, the time compression that almost all of us feel as we get older will be there. So, "that old" - if not now, then sooner than you think.

You ask, "Where is this all headed?" Some passions necessarily change or go away. New ones, fully satisfying, may arise. If wines, per se, or wine-related experiences are your passion, then there's no avoiding change - different palate, wear and tear on the body, calories, cost, etc. While I get a pretty good kick from returning to wine after a month or so of not drinking it, it's not transformative beyond a day or two.

It may be presumptuous of me, but I don't think there is a real wine rebirth out there for you. Your vacation wine travel may indeed spark some things, but their nature is as yet undetermined. Again, not that this is really a bad thing, it's just the way it is - often, there really isn't any going back.

(in reply to djlevin)

Post #: 8

RE: Wine Religion? - 4/13/2017 9:38:20 AM

champagneinhand

Posts: 10282
Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Old Doug

quote:

ORIGINAL: djlevin

Doug, am I that old already?

Doug, yes, but it's not really a bad thing. (Fairly often, I think of past times, of being younger, of opportunities missed, of tragedies not avoided. My question to myself is, if I could go back and do things over, would I? Of course there are temptations and certain events that are attractive targets for change, but no - no way do I want to go back, overall.)

I think CTers tend to be pretty successful, on average, for their raw number of years. Still, the time compression that almost all of us feel as we get older will be there. So, "that old" - if not now, then sooner than you think.

You ask, "Where is this all headed?" Some passions necessarily change or go away. New ones, fully satisfying, may arise. If wines, per se, or wine-related experiences are your passion, then there's no avoiding change - different palate, wear and tear on the body, calories, cost, etc. While I get a pretty good kick from returning to wine after a month or so of not drinking it, it's not transformative beyond a day or two.

It may be presumptuous of me, but I don't think there is a real wine rebirth out there for you. Your vacation wine travel may indeed spark some things, but their nature is as yet undetermined. Again, not that this is really a bad thing, it's just the way it is - often, there really isn't any going back.

Wise words again from OD.

_____________________________

As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

(in reply to Old Doug)

Post #: 9

RE: Wine Religion? - 4/15/2017 12:07:34 AM

PinotPhile

Posts: 3728
Joined: 3/16/2014
From: Southern CA
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Still contemplating this topic. When my thoughts are together, as an aging wine geek, will post.

Meanwhile, I ran across this tonight. Have had the wines from Provisioner and have a few from AZ Stronghold.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/drink/ct-wine-drink-local-food-0414-20170412-story.html

Coping with Change Cheers!

(in reply to djlevin)

Post #: 10

RE: Wine Religion? - 4/18/2017 1:21:15 PM

PinotPhile

Posts: 3728
Joined: 3/16/2014
From: Southern CA
Status: offline

Interesting topic.

I have been on a wine journey since about 1990, beginning with cheap Chilean reds enjoyed by the fireplace when living in Chicagoland. Wine and cheese for dinner on weekends began a "romance" with red wine. For the first time. Then a late 90's move to SoCal resulted in wine as a hobby. In the last decade, several major life events. Plus health more time-consuming to manage as aging sets in. Plus the Great Recession that I believe never ended, with its financial implications. Add those together and needed some outlets to address all the change. Two overall that have truly helped: volunteer work and escalation of wine from a hobby to a passion. Wine passion resulted in attending a local university's rigorous (seriously) wine class, then a professional certification. So I was able to add wine-related volunteering as a Somm and combine both outlets.

I wonder how much of your journey, and that of other CTers, has to do with overall life events/stressors/coping with aging, etc.? I have found that I needed to look at total context. And to accept that I am not the young, resilient, go-getter person I once was. This is where I am now. I can manage some stuff, strive to improve some stuff, but aging just happens. To all of us. Some of us age well, others, for reasons we sometimes can't control, do not. Part of life's struggles.

My husband and I are both introverts. If you mean 3-4 occasions of socializing per month, with wine + family/friends + food, that frequency has never been on our radar screen. Dining out is rare. Takeout and our own wine and a movie or music most weekend nights suits us. Most especially as we age.

Talking about wine with others turns this introvert into a literal salesperson, without pay, of course. The most frequent question I get has to do with finding wines that "don't cost an arm and a leg". So people are interested, but the economy still su$$s. So I help them explore wines they enjoy at the $10 and under level. They come back to me so happy. It's worth it.

And, I'm a frugal soul. So it all comes together.

As for "revitalizing" wine as part of your life, maybe or maybe not. A trip or two to areas where you have up-close and personal interaction with vintners may assist. Maybe focusing on a few reds that do well with a light chill. Barbera, Cab Franc, basic Beaujolais, Dolcetto, Grenache, come to mind. What about Cava Brut Rose' What about Sparkling Shiraz from the Aussies?

You mention your cellar. Do you have a cellar strategy? Do you want to spend time developing one?

I began a strategy in 2015 that opened my eyes so more possibilities. But I found that my frugal soul wanted a comfort range. So my newer strategy focuses on the US, Chile (see above), Italy and Spain. 2 Old World, 2 New. Great for pairings. All areas with plenty of value wines. Just works.

Just a bit of rambling, just a few ideas, not trying to preach (pun intended). My attempt to put all of this into context.

Enjoy whatever beverages appeal. Appreciate the moment, the friends, the experience within which wine is just a component.

Memory Cheers!

< Message edited by PinotPhile -- 4/18/2017 2:34:33 PM >

(in reply to djlevin)

Post #: 11