I have not been interested in a single wine I have consumed in the past six weeks

[Terry_H_a_r_r_i_s]

I go through something like this often enough. I keep my fridge stocked with an IPA I love (Weldwerks’ Juicy Bits) and a few others from Weldwerks and so it allows me to enjoy short alternating stretches of my ale and the various red wines I keep in the cellar. But 95% of my drinking is at my house, relaxing to music, or some Netflix series/movie, or just out on my back patio. So very different environment than yours, Charlie. As others have suggested, why not just take a break from your wine-drinking, without any preconceived notion of when to return to it?

[MChang]

Sometimes a fun setting helps; I did a Vegas trip with the guys last year and we went to a fancy dinner and drank insane wines, Roumier Musigny, bunch of DRC, 96 cdm, etc. It was great, but the best wines we had that wknd were a couple high octane Napa cabs we had in our sky villa when we decided not to go out to dinner and got pizza from downstairs. It was a lot of fun and the wine was just phenomenal.

[mmalpiede]

Any new medications lately? I’ve heard this about people taking Ozempic.

[Mark_Y]

@CFu

@Mark_Y

If only you had some fun peeps comin’ your way in the near future Charlie…

you’re right, should see if more boring people over the age of 40 will help. Glad you’re coming to town this week.

U know what they say about rock bottom. Only one way to go from there!

[Brian_S_t_o_t_t_e_r]

Feeling burnout from work? Not major depression, but some of the symptoms can be comparable.

[Kent_Comley]

There are those who keep chasing the big guns, the big points, the life changer, the epiphany.

I stopped doing that years ago. Last night I popped a 18 Livio Sassetti Rosso di Montalcino that was just delciious. Just me and the wine and Live at the PGA. Enjoyed that glass as much as many big guns in testosterone infused dinners.

[Josh_Grossman]

I see your social media and it often makes me think of, “is it worth it” from this:

What's Wrong with Capitalism (Part 2) | ContraPoints

That or you’ve just tried it all:

Ain't That Pretty at All (2007 Remaster)

[Charlie_Carnes]

Fu keep charging away. I’m thinking the slump buster should be “Go Big!” Like Arthur Bach once said, “You ever been on a yacht？It doesn’t suck!” Pull out a big boy, cook Kathy a cool dinner and enjoy a killer bottle. If that doesn’t work… Champagne, Champagne, Champagne!

[Noah_C]

Obviously I don’t know you personally, so I may be way off here. But my few years on the board has taught me that you have a reputation for drinking very fancy/expensive wines. These are the sorts of wines that, no matter how passionate one is, most people (myself included) will never get to taste even a single time in their whole life. You’re having these never-in-a-lifetime bottles on a weekly basis, and going “meh”. It seems to me that you’ve lost your connection with wine.

Many have suggested taking a month off drinking, and that may recalibrate your body to wanting alcohol again, but it doesn’t seem like that alone will rebuild the connection you clearly once had.

I’m currently on vacation in Portugal, and just today went on a tour of some vineyards in the Douro with a local guide, born and raised in the area. He, my partner, and I shared an 18euro bottle of dry white table wine at lunch, overlooking the very vines that produced the wine in our glass. Was it a 95+pt wine? No, But it was a fabulous experience nonetheless.

While we were enjoying this 18euro bottle, our guide told us about a barrel of Port in the possession of his friend’s family that is over 100 yrs old. His friend gave him a bottle of it when he had his first child. I asked “what did it taste like?”, and he proceeded to tell me about a Portuguese word without an English translation, “Saudade”, which roughly is a mishmash of nostalgia, melancholy, yearning, and longing. It’s a word developed for the feeling loved ones left behind had when sailors went to sea hundreds of years ago, maybe never to return. Our guide said the 100yr old port made by his friends ancestors gave him Saudade for his own friends and family, his own lost youth, the whole region of the Douro.

Now that’s a connection with wine!

Your fancy tasting group might open that same bottle, analyze its structure, wax poetic about the flavors of figs, toffee, raisins, and charred scallions or whatever, and criticize it for its volatile acidity or rancio or something. That’s all fine and good, but no one is talking about Saudade. And I don’t see how not drinking for a month will change that.

My recommendation is take that month off, and then, if you have the time, travel to a traditional wine region and spend time with the people there. I’d steer clear of anywhere with super fancy or exclusive bottles. Don’t go to Burgundy or Napa- you’ll be too preoccupied trying to get into Screagle or DRC. Go to a place like the Douro, spend some time with the locals, and feel the Saudade. Good luck!

PS- this long missive, written at 1AM, is purely the result of residual jet lag!

[Ardeis_Scott]

A complete shot in the dark, but I quickly perused the thread top to bottom, and no one had mentioned COVID. Sure I know it has receded significantly from public scrutiny back to the Chinese lab from which it emerged, but my point is this: Are your olfactory bulb connections still fully functional? As you know, much about a wine’s palate is discerned from our sense of aroma. So if perhaps your nose took a viral hit that might be the offending cause. Just trying to help round out the differential of causes. Being an emergency dept physician, this potential etiology came to mind.

[CFu]

@MChang

That does happen sometimes to me as well; everything will taste run of the mill then I’ll be floored by something.

Hoping to be floored soon

@B_Buzzini

You’ve done it…you’ve drank all the great wines of the world…

LOL I wish

@Cris_Whetstone

Just stop having anything wine. Either you will start craving something or just come back to it after a couple weeks/month. That will give you some better perspective.

might ultimately be what I do

@Robert_Dentice

Try drinking a simple wine at home. I get burned out from all of the wine dinners. Then I will open a $25 bottle at home, usually a Ulli Stein Riesling, and enjoy it without all of the pretense and pressure of a big group. It always works for me.

possibly, my groups are small tho, usually 4-6 people tops. So it’s not some crazy fest.

@Patrick_Taylor

Do you find yourself asking “What’s the point?” Maybe you’re having a mid-life crisis. I had one about 10 years ago when I was in my mid 40s but am pretty sure I recently had an aftershock.

@Jim_Stewart

Sounds a bit like a mid-life crisis. A problem and an opportunity. Best of luck.

hmmmm I am turning 40 this year, maybe it’s something subconscious. Need to find something new that sparks joy in me.

@Corey_N

Then I switched tasting groups and wine became fun again. Why? Because the dynamic changed. No longer was I worried about picking out whether a given flavor was blackberry or blueberry. Instead, I was drinking in a couples group and the wine chatter was peripheral to the larger group discussion.

prob the inverse here, the core group of people I hang with - we really don’t talk about wine. Lots of shooting the shit, hanging out, playing cards intermixed with nice dining experiences. I’d say maybe 10-15% of our conversation is about the wine other than “damn that’s good.” “no that’s bad”.

Maybe I need to geek out a little more and reignite the intellectual passion.

@Jason_L

Sometimes you can know too much. Take a break from drinking, and then start exploring wines that you don’t know anything about

I just asked a wine guy at a store I have never bought from to put together a random 6 pack of fun whites he geeks on right now. Knowing his tastes are VASTLY different from mine.

@Russell_Faulkner

(post deleted by author)

maybe

@Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w

I would say stop drinking for a month and then see if you start to miss it. I wouldn’t jump to any cause like depression at this point unless you’ve lost interest in other things as well.

yeah - I’m not terribly worried about the mental health aspect, but to lose a passion over something you’re very passionate about is always worth nothing and diving into.

@Jonathan_Jaggers

Drink Bud Light on every occasion where someone is enjoying wine over the next few months, and don’t even allow yourself a sip of that wine. You’ll likely reemerge with a newfound appreciation.

not a terrible idea - maybe just have cocktails/beer at dinners when we go out.

@B.Kelly

This. I’ve been in a bit of a funk as well, where getting through a bottle of wine over three days is a slog. A few weeks back, I poured myself a glass of @Sarah_Kirschbaum’s Williamson, and I’ve found some energy again. My scotch consumption is way off from the past few years, and every time I have one, I find myself a bit rejuvenated.

I will say - the two alcoholic drinks that really did peak my interest a bit were scotches that @Sarah_Kirschbaum and @M.Kaplan brought to dinner a couple months ago. I still think about em.

@HenryB

Passion fatigue? Too much of a good thing is creating apathy? The spectacular has become the mundane?

maybe… but I’m trying to drink as wide spectrum right now to test if it’s just “oh same ol same ol” doldrums

@Guillermo_M

If it turns out to be a mental health issue or even a midlife crisis, don’t go it alone. Get the help you deserve. Everyone should.

Beyond that, it could be as simple as not drinking what you don’t want to drink, as Cris said, instead of forcing yourself to because someone poured it.

Setting does matter too as Michael said, including the company.

indeed. indeed. Trying to be more introspective of the issue. The more I think about it the more impactful it seems to be. Initially, it started out as a quirk in my mind, but as it’s progressed it’s less and less of a joke. I don’t necessarily feel sad, but as a normally upbeat social butterfly - it does make me think.

@Rodrigo_B

I’ve certainly been there a couple of times. I remember a few years ago, one evening I ended up opening up a dozen wines from my cellar in an unsuccessful attempt to find something that I excited me for dinner with just gf at the time. Nothing quite seemed to hit or spark joy. She thought I’d gone insane . I find that taking a break from consuming in group settings, and like Robert said focusing on a single, simple wine at home for a while can help reset that indifference. Takes a few months though.

This year I’ve probably drank something at home alone maybe twice and that’s 1-2oz of something i was curious about. I generally have a few hours in the day after my daughter goes to sleep to work out, play video games, browse the web, catch up on some work. I could have a glass then, but i also don’t really like how wine tastes the next day or two so it feels like such a waste. I tried the 4oz bottles and that was fine for a bit, so maybe I’ll go back to it.

good suggestion, wouldn’t have thought to go back to the 4ozers. Might try tonight.

@Juliec

Also, sometimes the hit rate on bottles opened are less than others. Lately Champagne. Also i tend to like older wines and lately have been having not so old wines.

I know the wines are drinking well, they just don’t interest me. It’s like whatever connects from my tastebuds to my brain doesn’t sync.

@mmalpiede

Any new medications lately? I’ve heard this about people taking Ozempic.

nada

@Brian_S_t_o_t_t_e_r

Feeling burnout from work? Not major depression, but some of the symptoms can be comparable.

could be. Having two jobs does get a bit tiring but it’s exciting to me still.

@Kent_Comley

There are those who keep chasing the big guns, the big points, the life changer, the epiphany.

I stopped doing that years ago. Last night I popped a 18 Livio Sassetti Rosso di Montalcino that was just delciious. Just me and the wine and Live at the PGA. Enjoyed that glass as much as many big guns in testosterone infused dinners.

legitimately nothing is igniting my fire. Like i said, $20 wine, $20,000 wine. Irrelevant.

@Josh_Grossman

I see your social media and it often makes me think of, “is it worth it” from this:

ha - If i can afford it, price is largely irrelevant. Rarely do I question if something is worth it or not. Can’t take the money with me when I pass.

@Charlie_Carnes

Fu keep charging away. I’m thinking the slump buster should be “Go Big!” Like Arthur Bach once said, “You ever been on a yacht？It doesn’t suck!” Pull out a big boy, cook Kathy a cool dinner and enjoy a killer bottle. If that doesn’t work… Champagne, Champagne, Champagne!

I just had 01 leroy ricebourg and D’auvenay Chevalier a couple weeks ago! I can’t get any bigger!!!

@Noah_C

Many have suggested taking a month off drinking, and that may recalibrate your body to wanting alcohol again, but it doesn’t seem like that alone will rebuild the connection you clearly once had.

i agree with this - a month off won’t really change anything. Like you said, something needs to reinvigorate me. I don’t know what that something is yet. I did explore Central Otaga back in December and while fun, all the history and storytelling doesn’t excite me if the wine doesn’t excite me. Maybe I can convince my family to go to Portugal

@Ardeis_Scott

A complete shot in the dark, but I quickly perused the thread top to bottom, and no one had mentioned COVID. Sure I know it has receded significantly from public scrutiny back to the Chinese lab from which it emerged, but my point is this: Are your olfactory bulb connections still fully functional? As you know, much about a wine’s palate is discerned from our sense of aroma. So if perhaps your nose took a viral hit that might be the offending cause. Just trying to help round out the differential of causes. Being a physician, this cause came to mind.

everything is fine. Wine tastes good just doesn’t excite me.

[CFu]

p.s. Quote function on new board is fantastic

[Anton_D]

@Ardeis_Scott

A complete shot in the dark, but I quickly perused the thread top to bottom, and no one had mentioned COVID. Sure I know it has receded significantly from public scrutiny back to the Chinese lab from which it emerged, but my point is this: Are your olfactory bulb connections still fully functional? As you know, much about a wine’s palate is discerned from our sense of aroma. So if perhaps your nose took a viral hit that might be the offending cause. Just trying to help round out the differential of causes. Being a physician, this cause came to mind.

I appreciate the smoothly worked in crazy!

Really well done!

[Scott_Watkins]

@CFu

p.s. Quote function on new board is fantastic

Eh seen it many times, usually with money not wine. Your bored but fortunately you have a beautiful wife daughter a good job? And make a boatload of money being a mod here time to branch out and focus on something else for awhile. You are correct quote function is awesome ha. And know Berserkers will take care of you if it becomes a buyers market at the Fu household

[Kent_Comley]

Thanks Charlie,
This is a phenomenon that I am familiar with. I get given a lot of samples and have a lot of opportunities to consume.
I find that I go off on different tangents. Last summer for example was tequila and tonic. Sought out some interesting tequilas and different tonics and experimented. It was fun, but eventually I missed the synergy of wine with food, and my jaded palate was invigorated.

[Robert_M_yers]

You’ve spent a long time chasing the wine dragon, I’d think you can only do that for so long without a break.
That seems normal.

Relax, go see some Jazz, or punk or whatever (dinners ect) that gets your juices going, where nobody gives a bleep what you are drinking. Get out of the scene for a bit where the first thing someone asks is about what’s in your hand now or even gives a bleep about what’s next.
When I drink two of the same thing in a row I realize it’s not about the actual drink anymore but about the surroundings and who I’m sharing them with.

[AndyK]

@CFu

prob the inverse here, the core group of people I hang with - we really don’t talk about wine. Lots of shooting the shit, hanging out, playing cards intermixed with nice dining experiences. I’d say maybe 10-15% of our conversation is about the wine other than “damn that’s good.” “no that’s bad”.

Maybe I need to geek out a little more and reignite the intellectual passion.

Maybe it’s the setting? Sounds like a nice group of friends to hang out with, but drinking $$$$ wines in a setting like this doesn’t do the wine justice… Sometimes the focus should be that special bottle to truly appreciate it. There are lots of very good wines to drink and enjoy in that don’t trigger the expectation to be exciting and inspirational and are perfectly fine for these types of hangouts.

[Bweiss]

Not the appropriate forum (pun intended) to get into this, but I’ll throw out one possibility to privately consider. Have you started any new medications recently? Side effects can be all over the board with meds (especially when new), and could impact your emotional reactions while leaving your sensory inputs completely untouched.

[Tyler_F]

You know what I’d do? 2 bottles at the same time, man.

[john_stimson]

Most everything has been covered here already. to me it seems like you just need to break the mold for a bit and do something totally different for a while. Quit doing wine tastings. Start a cocktail group, where you are required to come with an interesting cocktail to put together. Or go totally away from alcohol and start a knitting circle. Or start bird watching. Wine will eventually come around again, and you will again appreciate it.

Our own high end wine group was up-ended by covid, and we began a weekly zoom cocktail group. We realized that the important thing was not the wine that we had been geeking over (we have some excellent cellars in the group, which interestingly, people are beginning to sell…), but the companionship. We still get together now and then, and drink and appreciate some great wines, but we’ve realized that that’s really not the important thing.