One of the most alluring aspects of wine is the un-ending opportunity for learning it provides the eternally curious. An entire lifetime could be dedicated just to exploring its history. Another is needed to learn how to tweak a particular terroir to its best expression, and another just to keep up with developments in production. That's three lifetimes right there, and we have yet to put glass to lip, which is really what it's all about, after all.
For centuries, the pursuit of wine knowledge and experiences have attracted the curious and the sensual (and, unfortunately, the insufferable wine snob which we'll leave for other discussions). We all know people who follow this path, people who get visibly excited when expressing their knowledge or opinion about wine. They are most assuredly wine Geeks. But it's always easier to spot such characteristics in others while remaining blind to them in ourselves. Here's how to tell if you're one of them too...
“You know how to buy stocks, but do you know how to sell them?” So opened the article about how investors often "collect stocks" instead of selling them at their peak. The author made sense, until he said “Your stocks are not like your wine portfolio, which rewards years of quiet neglect.”
The voice inside my head I wailed "Bulloney" (yes, Fatherhood has done wonders for my language.) I don’t doubt the author’s insights into investor psychology, only his contention that wines reward years of quiet neglect. Any wine collector with more than 25 bottles suffers from the same foibles of human psychology that plague the investor and the large wine collector alike...
Early last Thursday we were returning from Vancouver when someone called with the news. We were scurrying about in the pre-flight frenzy familiar to those with young children, so the news of some vaguely-defined terrorism threat was particularly un-nerving. Fortunately, we made it home with relatively little delay, having been warned in advance about the newly-forbidden carry-on items.
Wine Now A Forbidden Carry-On My crystal ball tells me there is air travel in your future, so you would be wise to remember that wine is no longer allowed in your carry-on. It is a sad thing to see, the distraught oenophile forced to separate from precious wine by an over-worked TSA agent. But it is put into proper perspective by the reason for needing to do so - these are crazy times when small bands of extremists impact large democracies...
First thing you do, save a gob of money. $300 - $360 a head should do, unless you're particularly thirsty. This should assure sufficient wherewithal for you to partake of the nation's finest food and wine experience...
Greenwood Ridge Winery, the host for the California Wine Tasting Championships, is located in the Anderson Valley, about seven miles from the valley floor (distance, not altitude, of course).
It is so remote that first-time visitors often report turning off of Highway 128 at the "California Wine Tasting Championships" sign, only to grow increasingly convinced they either missed the place or their odometer is broken. The familiar thought of the perpetually lost begins to haunt the driver - "Am I getting closer or FARTHER AWAY??" Even after seeing the winery's sign (and missing the driveway, requiring a quick u-turn), there are another two miles of dirt driveway to navigate. That clean car you started out with? Forget about it.
One of the most alluring aspects of wine is the un-ending opportunity for learning it provides the eternally curious. An entire lifetime could be dedicated just to exploring its history. Another is needed to learn how to tweak a particular terroir to its best expression, and another just to keep up with developments in production. That's three lifetimes right there, and we have yet to put glass to lip, which is really what it's all about, after all.
