As a few of you know, I'm a social guy. I like the company of others, and very often over a drink or eight. These drinks are often wine. In these settings, I've mastered the smile and nod, the "knowing swirl", and the phrases "this is a very buttery chard" and "I tend to like bigger Shiraz". I've even pretended to be a Riesling expert* at a large wine tasting in order to get free tickets to the event. Part of the deal meant I was asked to lend my professional imprimatur to a set of wines produced by vineyard specializing in Riesling. An hour into serving the wines with as many floral adjectives as I could muster (finally having an opportunity to put my English degree to work) despite the fact that I had never tasted said wines, I started to feel guilty. This guilt then led me to drink, which made me feel better in the moment, but I still have lingering pangs now and then.
As many have admitted on this blog, I don't know anything about wine (except that I like it). And the fact that I've been faking for so long has made my decision to take this class a matter of existential resolution.
I'm looking forward to becoming a more authentic version of me with all of you. Cheers!
* A deeper irony here is that, to date, I've found that I really don't like Rieslings. I'm also taking this class to find a new appreciation for this varietal.
I really feel like this "pretending to be a Riesling expert to get free tickets to an event" story requires a bit more elaboration.
ReplyDelete100%
DeleteGary,
ReplyDeleteI personally love riesling so hope to convert you there. As for your preferences, as we'll discuss tomorrow, what you like/enjoy is highly personal, and a function of your sensitivity to bitterness and much more. So there is no "right" answer of what you should like- just that you should start observing what you like, pattern-matching, so you can be sure to primarily select that style of wine when sipping!