I spent the first 40 years of my life drinking Bud Lite and Jack Daniels. Then one of my business partners introduced me to red wine, and I have been a fan (actually, I may be more than a fan - I am a borderline addict - JK) ever since.
A couple of years ago my youngest son’s boss told him he should really start drinking something other than Bud Lite at business functions, and he asked me to teach him a little about wine.
I decided that I would get all three of my sons introduced to wine. Now two love Bordeaux and cabs, and one loves Champagne. They have learned a lot over the last 6 years. We have vacationed in Bordeaux, Champagne, Napa and Tuscany, and they are learning a lot about different wines. I think if nothing else it makes them a little more well rounded. I really wish that I would have been introduced to wine earlier, and started collecting earlier. There is so much out there to learn about, I have barely touched the surface (primarily champagne, bordeaux and cabs). I would really like to learn more about merlot and burgundy, Italian wines, rose, port and chardonnay, but there is only so much time and money!
Another benefit of introducing my kids to wine is that they tend to come home and visit more often since they usually convince me to open some nice bottles with dinner (this weekend we are doing ribs and Bordeaux on Friday, ribeyes and Cab on Saturday, and Champagne and Pinot on Sunday for Easter). We also do vertical tastings, and taste before and after decanting to change things up. My youngest recently bought a wine ‘trivia’ type game that we all played as a family.
Oh, and if I am ‘caught’ exceeding my wine budget, I just tell my wife it is for the kids…and I get a free pass!
It is now something that our whole family has in common and can share together.
Love it! My wife and I have gone tasting with our kids in Napa, Sonoma, the Rhinegau, Burgundy, Alsace, Chateauneuf and the Piedmont, as well as a lot in Oregon, of course. My son has no formal training but we’ve discovered that he has a great palate and can talk the talk. During my older daughter’s baby shower, earlier this year, the guys watched a wine video and tasted along. Did some very basic education of her father-in-law about wine, like the differences between pinot and cab, which was great bonding and made us feel very smart.
My kids, now 16, 18, and 21, have been drinking wine with our dinners since their early teens. The oldest says his life ambition is to continue to eat and drink as he was accustomed too…ah…what being a young poor college student can do for the appreciation of your parents. My second son just chose a trip to London with me rather than the typical senior spring break in Mexico…he said that he’d prefer to eat and drink well, rather than the cheap booze and sun. The 16 yr old girl is still a work in progress…
My oldest son and I have enjoyed many bottles of wine together. His mother and I would have wine all the time when he was growing up and would occasionally ask for a taste. As he grew older he appreciated wine more and more. He even got me over my near phobia of drinking Merlot. I cannot remember what it was but he served it to me blind and I really liked it. As I was preparing to leave the area, for retirement, he invited me to dinner. I took a 1995 Peter Michael Chardonnay for the fish he said he’d be fixing. He also open one of his favorite chardonnays and when we had them on the table to gather he was shocked. The color of the '95 was a deep straw color and his a pale yellow. He declared the PM as one of the best wines he had ever had, I was very close to agreement with him. He recently took a job in Japan and came to stay with me for 3 weeks. I printed a spread sheet of the cellar and marked it according to the wines he could have without asking me. It seemed like he tasted one of everything I had marked for him. I was also happy to dig into the back for Winston Churchill Cuvee and some older cabs before he left on his adventure. I just know, that when I pass, he will have a great cellar to remember me by. And I will be smiling from above.
As my tastes have changed, I am able to unload some of the wines I no longer enjoy on the kids who drink a lot more than I do these days. Then I get to buy more wine that I like. Win! Win!
Introduced my kids to wine when they were very young. Started with a taste of sauternes,and then let them taste whatever I was drinking at their own pace. Nobody really had much interest until they were in their mid teens and then each slowly started to really enjoy wine. I took 3 of 4 on a wine trip last summer to Champagne,Bordeaux,Rhone and then a week in Burgundy. What a blast. One of my greatest pleasures in life is drinking wine ( and eating great food ) with my kids. I’m just starting to give them some of their birth year wines I bought and some of the low end wine I’ve kept for them to drink with friends. I told them I’m drinking from the top down, the rest will be theirs.
Our daughter was offered so many glasses when she lived in our city and turned them down. She moved to Portland OR in Dec. 2014, and a switch flipped about a year later. No idea what happened, but she pretty much likes everything now at age 25. We took her out for her birthday on our last trip, and she requested we bring a 2014 Sonoma Coast PN. So we did, an Ancillary Sun Chase, declared the best yet. Can’t argue with that.
We have created a legacy collection for our 3 adult children to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Each will receive 24 bottles for their respective marriage years 2000, 2010, 2012. We also have an 18 bottle collection for each of our 4 grandchildren for their respective birth years 2004, 2007, 2013 (in progress), 2016 (future project). They can work out their own method for dividing up what remains in our cellar when we are gone or unable to know what we are drinking.
I sure hope my daughter likes wine otherwise I am way over bought on 2015 vintage Then again I do have to be very careful with my empties as if she gets her hands on them she will tilt them in the air over her head like she is drinking straight from the bottle. And she always wants a fingertip taste of whatever we are drinking. That’s great but she’s not even 18 months old yet
My 3 sons (24, 22-1/2 & 17-1/2) grew up with wine, as did I because of my father. Like us, wine is to go with meals. I started opening birthyear vintages for each of my sons (as well as for my wife) quite a few years ago - not only for birthdays.
Unfortunately, my own birthyear (1965) is pretty dismal wine-wise. I’ve only had one birthyear wine so far that was good enough - during a family meal at Arzak during my 50th birthday week, the sommelier (who is also a vintage '65) dug up and served us their only bottle of '65 Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real Reserva. Naturally, I shared a glass with him.
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Then again I do have to be very careful with my empties as if she gets her hands on them she will tilt them in the air over her head like she is drinking straight from the bottle. And she always wants a fingertip taste of whatever we are drinking. That’s great but she’s not even 18 months old yet 