I posted a remark to a thread today that I felt might be a subject for a new thread and an opportunity for others to express their views, something from which we can all benefit:
“As with most of us on this board, Im passionate about all things wine and in the process, I put it out there to attract quality wine tastings, dinners, luncheons and events to enhance my knowledge and experience. Its happening and Im blessed to have so many good friends through this connection in the world of wine. Life is good and we all deserve to be, do and have what it is that pleases us the most and does no harm in the process. Hows that for some philosophy of the day?”
So, what `s your passion level in the world of wine and how has that enhanced your life?
The absolute best thing about my passion for wine is the people I’ve met because of it. To answer the question, I guess my passion level is 7-8/10…maybe higher.
I am obsessed with wine and all things related. Most dinners are based around what bottle I pull, most vacations are to wine regions and all things wine, majority of reading is wine related…
I’m passionate enough to drink every day and to seek out the best wines (having tried every famous wineries at least once). I’m also sufficiently discerning that I can rely on my own tastes. Also occasionally enough to connect with winemakers if they’ll see me. But I guess I’ve never made it to the level where I get together with anyone who buys as much as I do on a regular basis (> 25 cases per year)
Carollee and I have had a 3000 bottle or larger cellar for over 30 years. We drink between one and two+ bottles a day. Our favorite wine is Red Burgundy. We have been drinking wine with meals for over 50 years. Our favorite wines are in order - Red Burgundy, White Burgundy, Piedmont Red, Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Chianti, Moselle Whites, Albariño, Rhine Whites, Mendoza Malbec, Zinfandel, California/Oregon Chardonnay, some Caifornia/Oregon Pinot Noirs, and other non-Cabernet, Merlot, et al grapes. We prefer Grand Cru and 1er Cru burgundies.
I have been drinking wine for well or 50 years, five years in from my start drinking wines you dream of and can’t afford even if you could, Great crowd I was with. Next 25 years drinking great wine and meeting lots of good folks. Loss of my lady diminished my buying but since I had cellar-ed quite well can not yet drink what I have. Given that history; I now enjoy the social aspects of drinking good wine with like friends and finding more new wines and friends along the way.
Wine is my main passion/hobby. I’m almost 31 and became really serious about it six years ago, first by becoming more discerning about what I drank, then by wanting to learn anything and everything there is to know about wine in general. It’s a perpetual process, and I really appreciate being able to learn from others, especially those here on this forum.
In my spare time, I’m usually reading something wine-related, and I plan vacations around winery visits. I’m going to Napa and Sonoma this fall, and I would love to make it to France sometime in the next 3-5 years.
I appreciate wine because it’s introduced me to new people and helped me stay in touch with old friends. About every month, I fly down to Southern California with a bottle of wine and have a special weekend meal with a friend who picks his own bottle to share. It gives us a good reason to get together. I hate to admit it, but I doubt I’d make it down as often if we didn’t do the dinner parties.
The other day, I realized what a wine geek I’ve become when 1] I got excited about my brother moving to Santa Cruz so I can stay with him while I visit SCM, and 2] while pondering which bottle(s) of '81 (birth year) wine to buy for my birthday, wishing I’d been born in '82 so I could splurge on a Mouton.
Why is everyone my age so obsessed with 82 Mouton all of a sudden? Roughly 10 years ago, the `82 Bordeaux du-jour was Pichon-Lalande. What happened to that? Not cool anymore?
I first got heavily into wine when I was 23, which was a fast 9 years ago. My curiosity towards this world led to a change of careers (cooking to winemaking - remarkably similar personalities/environments, maybe one day I’ll write a Bourdain-esque novel about the life and times of a cellar rat in the Napa Valley).
I’ve met countless people in my travels through wine. People of all backgrounds, from all parts of the world, and from all walks of life. A few of them I now have the great pleasure of calling a “good friend”.
At first I looked forward to the mega-tastings, wine party dinners, etc. After a few years of monthly dinners, it did become a bit of a burden - as I soon preferred to taste 2, 3 wines at most at a dinner as opposed to tasting 20-30 and having a dozen half empty bottles of $100 wine left to rot.
Now-a-days, I believe my habit has settled down. Wine is a lifetime of learning, and I now firmly believe shouldn’t be treated as a sport. I know what I love (The Rhone, Burgundy, Alsace, Austria, Germany, Piemonte, Aglianico del Vulture, California Pinot), and I know what I don’t get (Bordeaux - save for Haut Brion, Spain, Australia).
Wine, along with sports (playing more so than watching), are my main passions/hobbies. I’m 28 now and I ‘discovered’ wine when I was around 23 years old, but then got really serious a few years later. In the past three years most of my reading, dinners and travels have been centred on wine.
It has enhanced my life in a few ways. First, I’ve met some of the most generous and knowledgeable people through various wine events and many of these people have become close friends. Equally as important, because my wife is also serious about wine, it’s given us one more thing that we can do/enjoy together. While we do hike, snowboard and play tennis together, she’s not a part of many of my other activities (hockey, golf, ATVing, snowmobiling, etc.), so it’s nice to have a common interest in wine. Wine has also enhanced my life by simply bringing more joy into it…drinking, buying, sharing and collecting wine is a lot of fun and has brought a lot of happiness into my life. There is nothing like opening a great bottle of wine and sharing it with friends.
I would classify my love of wine more of a passion than a collection. I collect other things and have a clear and concise reason for this distinction. Wine is meant to be consumed, not placed into a showcase like a rare book or placed into a sealed album like an old stamp in superb condition, and should be shared with people you enjoy.
My passion for wine has enabled me the good fortune of meeting great like-minded and generous people and by the creation of my group (aptly named CLONYC, Cabernet Lovers Of New York City), I have widened that 20X. Truth be told, if I put as much energy into my vocation as I do my passion, I would be one successful mofo.
Yes! I can feel the passion in all of the above responses. The primary benefit we all get is meeting so many quality people and the lifetime relationships that evolve. Thanks for sharing the passion.
Cheers
I love what it does to fine food, good friendships and great meals with my wife. I also love it for the friendships it has brought and the thirst for knowledge that it has instilled in me.
In fact, I love it enough to endure high credit card bills, scorn from my wife, mocking remarks from my children, endless emails from marketers and high housing bills for my wine.
I must say that there are several things in my life that I’m far more passionate about than wine: music, love and nature to name a few. That said, I love good wine and can’t stand bad wine. Yuck, yuck, yuck. The shit that non wine geeks will drink amazes me. Sheer ignorance, I guess.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
![[blush.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/6/69fdd33e0271fef98daa1424c2be1bf616ee7243.gif "blush"){kind=small}