I think it’s great that people feel they can enjoy good wine solo at times like that. Good for all of you.
While I agree that wine is often at its best over dinner with perfect pairings and with company, I think some people get carried away with the idea that those are the only ways to enjoy wine, or that there is something wrong with enjoying wine at non-mealtime or by yourself. Sometimes, in quiet moments alone, you get tremendous enjoyment from wine.
Last Fall in Tahoe, sitting on the beach and watching the sunset while knocking out some good Champagne and Chablis - listening to our kids standing in the water or searching for rocks or playing realizing they liked a place as much as we do. Then the sun set and we made smores to finish the night. Fun week.
Now once they went to bed and we headed to the casinos - well thats a different story 
I’ve had more than a few, the runner-up might be drinking some Gruner that I’d put in a thermos and slaked my thirst with about 2/3 of the way up the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. That was a nice place to drink wine and be at peace with the world.
The double winner for me though, would be my two “WineFests” that I put on in 2008 and 2012 (my quadrennial cellar depressurization event). Those have been 2 of the best days of my life, where so many of my family and friends come together and spend the day smiling, laughing, talking about and sipping wine. In particular, WineFest 2008 was punctuated by a particular event, where I was able to pull 8 of my 9 “Companions” together—the people, other than family, who I would throw myself in front of a train for, my very closest friends…some of whom had never met each other before—in a room with a bottle of 1990 Guigal La Turque so that I could spend 20 minutes telling them what they meant to me. To gather all of them together----that was the completion of a Great Life Task, and that one was always going to be accompanied by a special bottle of wine.
Good thread!
sometimes they return after they finish college.
2 years now ![[shock.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0b1dcf699ec319f43254f92e3f145786dcd93904.gif "shock"){kind=small}
We have a (rarely used these days) sailboat. Some of my favorite times were glass in hand at anchor with jazz playing and child and dog swimming.
I got some John Coltrane on the stereo baby
make it feel all right
I got some fine wine in the freezer mama
I know what you like…
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Kenny Burrell or Bill Evans and a glass of wine is a Robert B experience for me, cowboy.
I’ll go with Pat Metheny and a Rochioli East 2001.
Back just after Christmas, with my wife as we celebrate our 25th, sitting on the 2nd-floor piazza of the Lamboll House in Charleston on a beautiful balmy day, looking across the tops of palmettos and live oaks toward Fort Sumter, sipping on a delightful 2007 Tenuta del Portale Aglianico del Vulture Riserva. Precious memories.
Pulled a marathon session of Game of Thrones Season 3 last night with a tremendous bottle of 2010 Levet Cote Rotie La Chavaroche. What a perfect pairing, that wine is medieval! Check back in an eon.
Laugh! The 2004 had at the beginning of last year made it to my WOTY list.
Mine is pretty mundane too, at least for all you West Coasters. We spent a morning walking around La Jolla last October, then put our name in for a late lunch at George’s Ocean Terrace. The view, the weather, the food, the service, and the half bottle of Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc were absolutely perfect. So was the memory.
Last week in Kauai to celebrate our 21st anniversary, preparing fresh mahi mahi while listening to old Beatles tunes (50th anniversary of their first tour of America), and sipping a 2009 Paul Pernot PM Les Pucelles. Ocean crashing outside, twilight falling, totally relaxed. Heaven.
Wine… 2011 Ethos Reserve Chardonnay Columbia Valley Chateau Set Michelle
Music… The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
I have the fourth song (Speechless) on a loop…
I had a long day at work and just enjoyed a great home cooked meal…
In the hopes that we can laugh at ourselves, and not intending this to offend anyone in the least, I’m reminded of this entry from the “Stuff White People Like” blog, which was very funny back in its day (and which, for all that race is in the subject line, is not really about race, but rather is a conceit used for a funny, lighthearted, outsider-looking-in skewering of trendy upscale urbanites and their habits – I certainly am on the receiving end of some of it, even though I’m only half white, and I still think SWPL is very clever and funny).
This is just an excerpt, the whole post can be found at the link.
#116 Black Music that Black People Don’t Listen to Anymore
All music genres go through a very similar life cycle: birth, growth, mainstream acceptance, decline, and finally obscurity. With black music, however, the final stage is never reached because white people are work tirelessly to keep it alive. Apparently, once a music has lost its relevance with its intended audience, it becomes MORE relevant to white people.
Historically speaking, the music that white people have kept on life support for the longest period of time is Jazz. Thanks largely to public radio, bookstores, and coffee shops, Jazz has carved out a niche in white culture that is not yet ready to be replaced by Indie Rock. But the biggest role that Jazz plays in white culture is in the white fantasy of leisure. All white people believe that they prefer listening to jazz over watching television. This is not true.
Every few a months, a white person will put on some Jazz and pour themselves a glass of wine or scotch and tell themselves how nice it is. Then they will get bored and watch television or write emails to other white people about how nice it was to listen to Jazz at home. “Last night, I poured myself a glass of Shiraz and put Charlie Parker on the Bose. It was so relaxing, I wish I had a fireplace.” Listing this activity as one of your favorites is a sure fire way to make progress towards a romantic relationship with a white person.
Classic, Chris. Not sure it is funnier thinking of Robert B chillin to Lady Gaga, and admitting it, or, eh, me admitting I was listening to Timbaland and Justin while drinking a very classic, stiff upper lip Bordeaux.
My teen-aged son just walked by and said, “Dad, are you really listening to that? You are so weird . . . .” I didn’t tell him I’m on glass three.
I am an engineer by trade but over the years I have performed in plays and actually sang a few solos. I really try to listen to a wide variety of music. When I find something I like, I have no problems admitting it. I also love musicals. I recently went to see Annie in New York with my wife. I have seen several over the years. I really like Phantom of the Opera. I have the same attitude towards wine. I like what I like and I really try to explain why. I thank this board for providing the medium to attempt to explain it.
Robert, you should click on the link and read the rest of that short SWPL entry. The part about “old school hip hop” is hilarious.
I was just laughing to my wife and kids this weekend, telling them over dinner how I tried to woo this super hot chick in 9th grade by singing Rapper’s Delight by Sugar Hill Gang, thinking that me knowing the lyrics was totally cool. Think rich spoiled white kid (well, Cuban, but we all think we are white), Khaki Bermuda shorts, pink polo with popped collar and Sperry topsiders. Singing rap. The subject came up as my son is now in 9th grade, gone girl crazy, but also because he’s wearing close to the same stuff I wore back then. Life comes full circle.
I am currently married to a girl that I first met when I was about 10 years old. It only took me about 13 years to convince her to date me… We were married at the age of 25.
We are creatures of habit. About 7PM Mon thru Sat and 6PM Sun, I fire up our laptops at “our” table in the bar. 90+ percent of the time, we open a Pinot Noir, log onto all our social media sites and listen to our random play book established on Pandora. Very soothing and enjoyable, unless I go into politics on WB.