Wining about the Good Life

Democracy of Wine

A great deal of my time is spent "Wine-tertaining" people in their homes. It's enormously gratifying for me, because I get "hands on" experience of the consumers' concerns and likes and dislikes. I hear the questions which people tend to be too intimidated to ask in wine stores or restaurants and I, hopefully, send them out into the often daunting wine world with confidence, enthusiasm and a sense of adventure.

I've conducted my own, unscientific survey, at these soirees, of the most asked for wines when dining out or shopping. And I'm sure you won't be surprised that the red wine is Cabernet Sauvignon and the white is Chardonnay. Now that's not a bad thing, given our wines of choice not so very long ago included Riunite Lambrusco, Asti Spumante and Gallo Pink Chablis. That was the era before the words White Zinfandel trickled off of our lips, and the period just after Mateus Rosé was our favorite tipple, not because we enjoyed the

wine, but we felt terribly continental when we shoved a candle in the empty bottle and the wax cascaded down it's very elegant side.

So here we are in the year Zero Four asking for Cabernet and Chardonnay without flinching or fidgeting, absolutely confident in our selection. So bravo! From Riunite or Yago Sangria or Lancers Rosé to a Kendall Jackson or Fetzer or BV or Mondavi made from Cab or Chard is a huge step. It's the wine equivalent of moving on from a Big Mac to beluga caviar or thinly sliced Scottish smoked salmon. And yes, drinking better wine is sophisticated, but it shouldn't be flaunted with arrogance or with condescension to those who don't appreciate the elixir of the grape.

Enjoying wine, whether red or white, is simply the reward of time. Wine needs our patience to discover it, savour it, ponder it and genuinely want it poured into our glass. Red wine isn't superior to

white and $50 /£30 bottles aren't necessarily better than $5 / £3 bottles. An opened bottle can be refrigerated and maintain it's freshness for half a week and a bottle of red or white wine will taste even better after it has some chilling time. Wine - the subject , and wine -the drink, is, as I've said so many times before, a democratic and a subjective beverage.

The choice of wine to enjoy is yours and yours alone. And if you enjoy a wine that costs $5/ £3 you should never apologize for that modest expenditure, rather you should boast about it. You are the master of your wine appreciation journey, and those of us who host wine events, are merely there to assist you in your voyage across wine's vast ocean.

Cheers!