Wine As A Hobby

The dark burgundy elixir in the wine glass to my left presents an elegant, stately, yet tempting appearance. But image is nothing. Thirst is everything. I'm drinking a pomegranate & blueberry juice mix. I generally don't indulge in Merlot this close to bed time because it disrupts my sleep.

Wine became an interest to me in the Summer of 2005 when I toured Italy, which has both the highest wine production and consumption levels in the world. Ten days and many glasses of wine later, I finally understood why some people had basements full of rack upon rack of dusty bottles. The amazing variation in texture and variety, and the overall enjoyment that comes from drinking a nice glass of wine is greatly underrated.

These days, I would prefer a $20 bottle of wine over a $20 DVD. There's more enjoyment inside.

But, like collecting limited edition DVDs, wine is expensive. I drank some expensive wines in Italy and they were extremely nice. I've also enjoyed some much less expensive wines in Canada and they were also very nice.

Some people stock their cellars with bottle-upon-bottle of really expensive stuff and age it for years. Maybe I'm just not cultured (or wealthy) enough yet to indulge in something like that, but I think the enjoyment is independent of the price. If an inexpensive wine is excellent according to you then there's no reason to throw down four times as much for some limited edition reserve wine. That's really what it's about.

I think some people display their wines and other liquor in an attempt to give an impression that they are "cultured" or that they are of a "higher" social class. I equate this to showing off your thick literature collection or stacks of arthouse movie DVDs. It's all vanity. And I reject that. Thirst is everything.

Tomorrow I'm opening a bottle of Jackson-Triggs Sauvignon Blanc. It's been sitting around for months and I picked up another white (Inniskillin Riesling) this evening, so I won't be in violation of my Rule. The Rule is that you must always have at least one bottle of red and one of white on hand in case there is an impromptu wedding. But that's another story altogether.

By drink is done. Bed time. I am gone.