How do you protect the special wine from gulpers ?

[Brandon_J]

@Bryan Carr

I have kind of a unique situation that hasn’t been mentioned. Everyone is talking about the wino/gulper dichotomy, what happens when your only wine friends are also inconsiderate guzzlers?

The only problem is, we try and share nice stuff with them since they’re the only ones who would care most of the time, but they gulp like crazy even when we pour the good stuff. Sure sometimes they’ll spend a minute or so doing swirl smell taste talk, but as soon as the formality is over they’ll pour 7 or 8 oz in each of their glasses and kill a bottle without asking if anyone wants another taste. They know how much the stuff we’re pouring costs. We see them at least once a week and it’s getting to the point where we only drink the super nice stuff with my wife’s family since our expectations are similar and we can trust them not to guzzle stuff we open for a “drink and think”. Are we doomed to only drink the good stuff with my wife’s family or alone?

That would be extremely painful. I too am new to the hobby (only been collecting about 6 or so years. We have some friends that gulp and a few that really appreciate the whole process of actual tasting not gulping…The “I’ll spend big bucks” but then gulp it down is so counter-intuitive it doesn’t even compute with me. I try to savor every last ounce of a nicer bottle…

What do they do at tastings? Do they listen to the info? Guzzle the tasting down?

Any chance you’re able to actually ask them? 'Hey, don’t you guys want to enjoy the wine? If you want to chug it…I have some vino verde in the fridge".

[Robert_Grenley]

You take a wine friend to the bathroom, when no one is looking, and the two of you each share a glass, then you inconspicuously leave one at a time. Then you gesture to another wine friend and nod towards the bathroom. You watch them enter and knock three times. They let you in. You share a glass each of the special wine. Then leave separately. Be sure to wipe your lips so no one sees the residue as you re-enter the party. You hide the bottle in the bathroom so as to not call attention to what you are doing.

[Joe_B]

@Bryan Carr

I have kind of a unique situation that hasn’t been mentioned. Everyone is talking about the wino/gulper dichotomy, what happens when your only wine friends are also inconsiderate guzzlers?

My wife and I are relatively new to wine geekdom (we’ve only been seriously collecting and tasting for ~2 years now), so we don’t know too many people who care about it other than her parents and their close friends who got us into wine. We’ve tried to convert some of our friends (with very modest results). One couple in particular has been really receptive, joining wine clubs, going with us to tastings, the whole nine, even gasp regularly spending upwards of $50-70 on a bottle of wine (not DRC prices or anything but a decent amount for our ages and relative newness to the hobby).

The only problem is, we try and share nice stuff with them since they’re the only ones who would care most of the time, but they gulp like crazy even when we pour the good stuff. Sure sometimes they’ll spend a minute or so doing swirl smell taste talk, but as soon as the formality is over they’ll pour 7 or 8 oz in each of their glasses and kill a bottle without asking if anyone wants another taste. They know how much the stuff we’re pouring costs. We see them at least once a week and it’s getting to the point where we only drink the super nice stuff with my wife’s family since our expectations are similar and we can trust them not to guzzle stuff we open for a “drink and think”. Are we doomed to only drink the good stuff with my wife’s family or alone?

Nope. There are roughly four glasses of wine in a bottle. Sounds like you should just pour each glass even. Then spend as much time as you want savoring your glass.

And get yourself those big ass bordeax glasses.

[Jason_T]

@Robert Grenley

You take a wine friend to the bathroom, when no one is looking, and the two of you each share a glass, then you inconspicuously leave one at a time. Then you gesture to another wine friend and nod towards the bathroom. You watch them enter and knock three times. They let you in. You share a glass each of the special wine. Then leave separately. Be sure to wipe your lips so no one sees the residue as you re-enter the party. You hide the bottle in the bathroom so as to not call attention to what you are doing.

My sarcasm meter sputtered at the sight of this post.

[Bryan_Carr]

@Brandon J.

That would be extremely painful. I too am new to the hobby (only been collecting about 6 or so years. We have some friends that gulp and a few that really appreciate the whole process of actual tasting not gulping…The “I’ll spend big bucks” but then gulp it down is so counter-intuitive it doesn’t even compute with me. I try to savor every last ounce of a nicer bottle…

What do they do at tastings? Do they listen to the info? Guzzle the tasting down?

Any chance you’re able to actually ask them? 'Hey, don’t you guys want to enjoy the wine? If you want to chug it…I have some vino verde in the fridge".

Oh but we live in Seattle, confrontation is not a thing anyone here does, we just post passive-aggressive stories about it on the internet

[Dennis_Kanagie]

@Bryan Carr

Oh but we live in Seattle, confrontation is not a thing anyone here does, we just post passive-aggressive stories about it on the internet

Come on over to the NY / NJ / Philly region then. Not only can you call somebody on the carpet for poor behavior, you can drop them on the carpet with a quick combination. Two rights (or a left followed by a right) correct a wrong.

[Brandon_R]

@Bryan Carr

@Brandon J.

That would be extremely painful. I too am new to the hobby (only been collecting about 6 or so years. We have some friends that gulp and a few that really appreciate the whole process of actual tasting not gulping…The “I’ll spend big bucks” but then gulp it down is so counter-intuitive it doesn’t even compute with me. I try to savor every last ounce of a nicer bottle…

What do they do at tastings? Do they listen to the info? Guzzle the tasting down?

Any chance you’re able to actually ask them? 'Hey, don’t you guys want to enjoy the wine? If you want to chug it…I have some vino verde in the fridge".

Oh but we live in Seattle, confrontation is not a thing anyone here does, we just post passive-aggressive stories about it on the internet

Bryan, I just laughed out loud at that. Being from Seattle, that’s so, so true…sadly.

[David_K_o_l_i_n]

Put it in the hamper in the bathroom, distributing this information on a “need to know” basis

[Scott_Butler]

@John Morris

Perhaps explain to the gulpers that this is a very special bottle and you want to make sure everyone gets their fair share – and then control the bottle.

Yep, 2 options:

(1) Just don’t bring it.
(2) Control it at all times.

We had a wine gathering last year with a good but large group of wine drinking friends, low to mid value wines ($20-50). I decided to open a 99 Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova as a special treat. It never left my hand and I think everyone got to try it.

[Loren_Sonkin]

If you are concerned, make sure everyone knows about it and you offer small pours. Doesn’t sound like much fun though. Save that bottle for a appropriate crowd and open a bottle that you are comfortable with opening.

I have also been to parties where someone brings a killer wine that is unknown (a Brunello, a Taurasi both come to mind recently). No one touched it as people sucked down the $30 cabs. I felt kind of guilty but went back a few times to those bottles before finally taking the final pour as the party was ending. A couple people even asked my opinion and I told them not to miss the Brunello. But, they liked Cabs or so they said.

[dteng]

Pull a Nixon!

[Chris_Seiber]

@Loren Sonkin

If you are concerned, make sure everyone knows about it and you offer small pours. Doesn’t sound like much fun though. Save that bottle for a appropriate crowd and open a bottle that you are comfortable with opening.

I have also been to parties where someone brings a killer wine that is unknown (a Brunello, a Taurasi both come to mind recently). No one touched it as people sucked down the $30 cabs. I felt kind of guilty but went back a few times to those bottles before finally taking the final pour as the party was ending. A couple people even asked my opinion and I told them not to miss the Brunello. But, they liked Cabs or so they said.

I’ve definitely seen that, including when I was the one who brought the good bottle. For awhile, you feel a little guilty drinking most of the good wine yourself, but at some point, you realize you’re the only one who wants it.

I LOVE Bryan’s post about non-confrontation. I don’t know about the Northeast, but I think for the most part, the typical way to deal with most bad manners in the wine geek world (the guy who always brings $20 bottles to the offline where everyone else brings great wines, the couple who Bogart the best wines, etc.) is that those people just end up not getting invited anymore.

But I sympathize with Bryan having said it was hard to find a wine enthusiast couple and that they have become good friends, so I think the solution is the one Bryan is doing, which is to select what you bring accordingly. Bring some good but moderately priced and not especially special/coveted wines, then everyone can booze it up and you don’t have to fret about it being a waste. Drink your contemplation wines on different occasions.

[Markus_S]

Remember Al Gore’s “lock box”??

[Bryan_Carr]

I guess the flipside to this that I can be thankful for is that at a dinner party recently we did pairings with each course and a friend who previously had no interest in wine had a really great time and is now always interested in talking about whatever we’re willing to pour.

@Chris Seiber

But I sympathize with Bryan having said it was hard to find a wine enthusiast couple and that they have become good friends, so I think the solution is the one Bryan is doing, which is to select what you bring accordingly. Bring some good but moderately priced and not especially special/coveted wines, then everyone can booze it up and you don’t have to fret about it being a waste. Drink your contemplation wines on different occasions.

We also recently met some people from WineBerserkers offline who are DEFINITELY on the same page as us and now we get together once or twice a month and we have a blast

[Dave_McCloskey]

@Alan Eden

Im sure we have all been in this situation

Your at a gathering say a dinner party with ten people, now a couple of you are real wine guys and youve brought special bottles, i dont mean a Bedrock or Carlisle which your OK sharing around im talking a Harlan, SE, DRC etc. What do you do when the guy/girl who you know could not tell SE from Screaming Yellow Tail reaches across with the intent of filling up their their 20 oz glass and basically taking a good 30-40% of you SE in one go and you know they will do something stupid like put ice in it or say OH thats to dry and throw it out.

I try and predict and swap out the bottle quickly telling them i think they would prefer this nice Four Vines zin i brought specially for them, but if they sense like some people do that its special and they want to try the DRC even though you know full well they would hate it or have zero appreciation is it OK to say politely to them " get lost this is for us winos only " ?

Would you let the ignorant drink your whole bottle of prized wine because your were to nice or would you speak up ?

LOL, funny scenario that we’ve all been through.

This is probably not entirely cool, but in situations like this I assign seats at the table. The folks who know Ripple from SE I put on one side and the “gulpers” on the other. I will place nice (I don’t serve bad wine) wine in front of the gulpers and the higher-end wine at the other. I also tend to pour the wine, so I can control the quantities and prevent folks from doing a two-thirds pour. Since I’m open and honest about this strategy, people know what to expect and they’re okay with it.

[Dennis_Kanagie]

@Dave McCloskey

This is probably not entirely cool, but in situations like this I assign seats at the table. The folks who know Ripple from SE I put on one side and the “gulpers” on the other. I will place nice (I don’t serve bad wine) wine in front of the gulpers and the higher-end wine at the other. I also tend to pour the wine, so I can control the quantities and prevent folks from doing a two-thirds pour. Since I’m open and honest about this strategy, people know what to expect and they’re okay with it.

So half of your friends are cool with you relegating them to the cheap seats?

[D.Callahan]

@Jason T

@Robert Grenley

You take a wine friend to the bathroom, when no one is looking, and the two of you each share a glass, then you inconspicuously leave one at a time. Then you gesture to another wine friend and nod towards the bathroom. You watch them enter and knock three times. They let you in. You share a glass each of the special wine. Then leave separately. Be sure to wipe your lips so no one sees the residue as you re-enter the party. You hide the bottle in the bathroom so as to not call attention to what you are doing.

My sarcasm meter sputtered at the sight of this post.

Mine as well!

[Peter_Petersen]

Maybe an exsessible balla Berserker Fest with only SE and Harlan. We can all gulp with gusto and not feel that the wines are being wasted.

[Kurt_Batsel]

What unfortunate law of nature is it that causes gulpers to be drawn to my good stuff like moths to a light bulb?

[Sherr1_Shap1r0]

The wine dinners I have attended with top tier wines, there is always someone in charge of the pours, to make sure the bottle makes its way around the table and everyone gets a pretty equal taste.

When out with friends or family - and I live in a state where most restaurants are BYO without corkage, so most meals out involve wine I bring from my cellar - I go in knowing that, depending on who is attending, there’s a good chance that the wine is going to be gulped and that’s not the time to bring out my best, aged bottles to be savored and appreciated. But I try not to stress about that kind of stuff and simply focus on enjoying the company of the people I am with, the food I am served, and whatever wine is in my glass. Yes, it’s annoying when people gulp wine I bring, but most of the time, I choose to dine with people I really like, so I ignore it and make sure I bring plenty for everyone.