How does your partner/SO fit into your wine life?

[Jeff_Wolniak]

@Thomas Keim

@Glenn L e v i n e

Bitch runs things.

The first time I took my girlfriend to Europe (Spain it was) and after a couple days she remarked; “Is that all you do is eat and drink here?”

“Well, no honey, did you like, want to go sightseeing or something?”

This is an ongoing discussion in our house. In fact, we are planning a trip to Spain. “Sightseeing” and “activities” are not in my agenda. “Restaurants” and “wine” are not on her agenda.

Together we make a great trip, though. (After I’m full of pinxtos and wine, however.)

[Randall_McFarlane]

SWMBO has a very good palate and is very fond of red Bordeaux, Sauternes/Barsac, red Rhones, mature Barolo and Barbaresco, white Burgundy, restrained California cabernets and chardonnays, and restrained Australian shiraz. She’s indifferent to Champagne (unless it’s at the super-premium level) and dislikes riesling (she wants me to peddle all of ours to Macarthur). She claims to dislike pinot noir-based wine, but this aversion only came to light after I got acquainted with and came under the evil influence of Kevin Shin, Howard Cooper and the other DC burgophiles, and I’m convinced it’s just a ruse employed to put a brake on my acquisitiveness. She has little interest in or patience for wine discussions and a limited willingness to engage in wine tourism. She–with considerable logic–severely discourages
additional purchases for the cellar given how much we’ve accumulated and our ages.

[Marshall_Gelb]

Total equal! Almost as geeky as me! She doesn’t question what I spend but thinks I should slow down a bit as we age. Actually, I have slowed down a bit and do more backfilling than I used to and do not purchase as much “new” wine. In addition, she actually fueled our “hobby” by arranging my first trip to Napa.

Cheers!
Marshall

[David_Bu3ker]

Not a billionaire. But we don’t have any kids, so it is about the same thing.

[Mark_B]

@Scott Brunson

She will not tolerate crappy wine (although she does love shitty wine).

So, you’re saying there’s a market for my toilet bowl Chardonnay?

[Curtis_Chen]

She’ll let me drink, but I can sense her disappointment or concern whenever I decide to. Let’s just say I’ve toned it.

[CFu]

@Curtis C

She’ll let me drink, but I can sense her disappointment or concern whenever I decide to. Let’s just say I’ve toned it.

? u haz gf?

[R_yan_C_omaz_zetto]

@David M. Bueker

Not a billionaire. But we don’t have any kids, so it is about the same thing.

Truer words have never been spoken (typed?). I never had a wine budget problem until kids. Now my daycare bill is more than my mortgage.

I handle the finances so it’s generally up to me to manage, which is fine. But my wife occasionally sees the credit card bill and has gone berserk a couple times. To counter, I concede on home improvement projects that I don’t think are necessary, but will make her happy. And if she questions a wine purchase, I tell her it was a producer she likes and that sometimes makes it OK.

Can’t wait for both kids to be in school and the return of discretionary income… but I’ve been told it doesn’t get any cheaper – sports, school trips, etc… someone, please tell me it gets better.

[Charlie_Carnes]

Julie went to Rieslingfeier with me last year. So I got that going for me… which is nice.

[David_Glasser]

Lots of couples here who love travel to Europe. One half wants to eat, drink, visit wineries and geek out over all things vinous. The other half wants to see the sights and immerse themselves in the local non-wine culture. Sounds like a great opportunity for a Wine Berserkers Travel Club.

[Chris_Seiber]

@Jason T

We found our palettes overlap nicely

[Martin_Verburg]

@David M. Bueker

The way I have managed to avoid getting killed:

1. All bills get paid in full and on time, meaning no credit card balances…ever!
2. All retirement accounts get funded in full each and every month (people with kids add college costs here)
3. There is always plenty of money for the things she wants
4. There is always a 12 month emergency cushion
5. There is always money for vacation
6. There is a fund for home improvements/repairs/car needs

As long as all of those conditions are met we are in harmony.

Idem dito.

Because this is simply it. Nothing left means no wine.

We can argue about the “plenty” in 3…( )

[Robert_B]

She likes to drink the wines I buy with me, so it is a perfect arrangement.

[Monte_Mast]

@Ryan Caughey

She loves wine - maybe more than I do. She has an excellent palate - probably better than I do. If she could, she’d drink Burgundy daily. I would too. Her favorite wine is Raveneau Chablis. Hard to argue with that.

The difference between us is that she doesn’t geek out over wine, although she does very much enjoy drinking great wines from places we’ve visited and hearing about the producers. She would never post on a bulletin board (wine or otherwise) in a million years.

Financially, we have joint everything - bank account, CCs, etc. She is fine with spending money on wine. We both are fairly successful in keeping our expenses in check, which is absolutely necessary with law school loans, a toddler, a new house, and another kid on the way.

My wife and I had the same epiphany with wine. We went to a retirement dinner at Vic & Anthony’s, a high end steakhouse in Houston. At that point, I’m not sure we had spent $50 on a bottle in a restaurant so when the guy who was in charge of selecting wine was looking at $500 bottles, we were a little freaked out. Then he and the somm decided on a $200 bottle - a 2002 Venge Reserve Cab. Then we tasted it and both of us were knocked out. It started us on the path to financial craziness.

We do our “adult” vacations together - Napa/Sonoma, Oregon and Burgundy. My wife is very similar to Ryan’s in that she knows quite a bit, but doesn’t geek over it. I geek enough for both of us.

I have six cases of wine in the living room because I am out of storage space. No complaints about the fact that I have 48 bottles (plus 48 more on the way) beyond the 800 bottles I have space for. She just doesn’t want to see it.

Our joke is we want to retire to where we can see vineyards every day and can walk to a restaurant where we can become locals. It now is more than a joke, when we go to Oregon this fall we are beginning the scouting process to see if it could be in the cards.

[CFu]

@David Glasser

Lots of couples here who love travel to Europe. One half wants to eat, drink, visit wineries and geek out over all things vinous. The other half wants to see the sights and immerse themselves in the local non-wine culture. Sounds like a great opportunity for a Wine Berserkers Travel Club.

oh man nothing my wife would hate more than to be forced to hang out with women she doesn’t know so I can go drink wines with people I met on the internet.

[Joe_S]

Someone should start VinoMatch, an internet wine dating service - you and your wife would enter your personalities and wine preferences and it would pair you up with similar couples!

[rachel_mcdonald]

My wife likes wine but prefers beer, plus she brews great beer so we always have fresh beer on tap. But if I want to open something special, she’ll drink it with me. She’s not particular about styles, so she’ll help out with reds or whites. There is some occasional eye rolling when she finds out how much I spend, but I make more and we have no debt other than the mortgage (plus we save for unexpected things and retirement). But we both drink most days, so I never get grief about opening something or having a second or third glass…

[Jeffrey_Neal]

My husband loves wine, but is on medication that severely limits his alcohol intake. His doc allows 1 glass of wine per week. That means I drink the rest. He is OK with the purchases, but does think I should slow down a bit. He is on board with building a real cellar, so we are starting that project in a month or two.

[Randy_Bowman]

Carrie fits in real well to my wine life. With her permission, I get to drink exceptional wines. If she’s not in the mood or under the weather, I have my choice of half bottles ranging from Washington Pinot Gris to Staggs Leap Cab. Her palate is better than mine and she can detect most corked wines from about 6 feet away. She has great connections and does a lot of research.

I guess if it wasn’t for Carrie, I’d still be drinking Annie Green Springs, Blue Nun and Mateus.

[Mike_Zimbric]

I research, prioritize, and purchase the wine. She tastes just about every bottle that’s opened, and fortunately she enjoys almost all of them. She has made it clear she loves Turley.

All I’ve ever really asked of her is to taste the wine and tell me whether or not she likes it, and why. Sometimes she’ll point out things I hadn’t noticed, which I enjoy.