+1
I just say “Here try this.” If they don’t like it they will tell me, hopefully. If they like it and ask more questions I keep it simple, very simple, unless they ask more detailed questions or want more info.
It’s all about money. When I got out of college and started getting into wine in my late 20’s, it was all about the money. I was paying bills, paying student loans, and working my butt off in my new job. I didn’t have tons of extra money or time to be out researching and buying lots of wine, let alone lots of expensive wine.
You must have a different definition of “as casual and relaxed as possible.” I’m actually into wine, but if a host kept doing that to me while serving me wine my eyes would probably glaze over.
Don’t give people an unsolicited lecture on the wine you’re serving them. Ever. If people are interested in the wine and want to know more, that’s your opening. But even then it’s a VERY narrow opening and not an invitation to an exhaustive (and exhausting) treatise on what’s in their glass…
+2 Plus, I think you always have to remember that wine appreciation is very contextual in nature. You can’t expect your friends to freak out over your Montrachet when they’ve never had a Bourgogne Blanc.
Moreover, many of the best wines are cerebral and contemplative in nature. And when you have hardworking friends, not all of them want to spend their free time contemplating fermented grape juice. Case in point: I had a few friends over for casual dinner a couple years ago. Open on the table was Trimbach CSH and Donnhoff QBA. By the end of the first course the QBA was drained. The CSH went pretty much untouched. Not hard to figure out why.
I sort of see where people are coming from here, but I think people are blowing my description out of proportion. In contrast to going on ad nauseam about esoteric wine terms, I’m simply saying something along the lines of “Here’s a Napa Cab” or “Here’s an Italian wine made from Sangiovese grapes”.
Exactly. Its for that reason that every couple years someone comes out with a supposedly revelatory research study showing that Barefoot Bubbly is better liked by average-Joe tasters than is whatever Grandes Marque they put it up against. Or some other silly duo - Mark Ryan vs. DRC, Cupcake Chardonnay vs. Leflaive, etc.
No, it’s not.
Money is part of the equation, but not as large as you’re implying.
It has much more to do with experience; meaning, most young people (at least in the US) do not grow up in households where
wine is an everyday part of life.
There are millions of reasons for this, but it happens to be the case.
Therefore, at 21, wine is seen as an intimidating, weird unknown to a lot of people.
Beer is something they’ve grown up with; by the time they’re 21 they’ve been bombarded with countless ads, posters, sponsored events etc.
How many times have you been watching March Madness only to be interrupted by an ad for Bouchard Montrachet?
Or gone to a concert sponsored by BV?
Beer is a familiar presence/commodity at a very early age, wine is not.
The idea that good wine is somehow vastly more expensive than good beer/cocktails seems a little off to me as well.
Craft beers aren’t cheap, neither are cocktails made by a “mixologist”.
Also, the very reason people drink when young changes as they get older; at first it’s for social lubrication, pure and simple.
I’d venture a guess that the number of 21 yr olds interested in boutique Bourbons, or Belgian Lambics* etc is roughly the same number that are into decent wine.
No one is drinking beer/booze to ponder it and discuss its nuances at 21.
The majority of young people drinking alcohol are doing it because everyone else is; because they can get a good buzz on and get up the nerve to talk to the pretty girl/dude at the party.
*apologies for writing French in OP; chalk it up to sleep deprivation with my 6 week old:)
I’m almost 45 and thats how I started as well. A few older co-workers who were “into” wine noted my interest, and bottles ended up on my desk with a note “try this”. Think the first was a '90 Sociando back in '96 and off I went.
Yeah, even that can be off-putting for someone who has limited familiarity with wine. Keep it as simple as possible and let them come to you with questions.
“There’s a white and a couple of reds open, help yourself.”
“Here, give this a try.”
It can take a loooooong time to get your friends into wine, and for some it just won’t happen. Just keep serving things they seem to like. If they comment on liking a particular wine, serve something in a similar style next time. If they keep enjoying themselves and see wine as a part of having fun, eventually they’ll pick up on it or they’ll get curious.
Having stuff that they can easily get helps too. It’s not critical, but it can definitely “speed things along” if your friends are able to pick up a bottle they recognize and enjoy it on their own. That can also give you an opportunity to expand their horizons a bit. “Well, if you liked that, why don’t you give this a try?” If they want to know more, they’ll ask. If not, then just let them enjoy themselves.
This is hogwash (in my opinion, of course). Unless Mark’s friends are literally small children (don’t serve alcohol to minors, Mark!), they are capable of handling being told that a wine is from France and is made from Chardonnay without shunning wine forever because it is too much like “school.” Indeed, through the magic of sight and by virtue of being adults who have been to grocery stores and to restaurants at some point in their short life (even if it was Applebee’s!), Mark’s friends are assuredly aware that wine is made in France and is available in a variety called Chardonnay. If they have any interest in wine whatsoever – or for that matter, in functioning as a base level member of adult society outside of a few enclaves in Utah and the deep South, where such knowledge will have less utility – they will want to know what Chardonnay tastes like.
And that of course all of this assumes Mark’s friends are complete wine ignoramuses. I doubt it. My guess is that they just aren’t enthusiastic about it and don’t really want to add the cerebral side of wine appreciation to their list of hobbies. I’ve had to make peace with the fact that most of my friends don’t. But that doesn’t mean that I treat them like children or morons, or that they resent it when I tell them that they are drinking a Riesling from Austria. On the contrary, I think that they for the most part find that to be an interesting tidbit that they appreciate hearing but then gets forgotten as they move on with their lives.
Thanks for making my point better than I did. At most restaurants that young people go to, the price of a beer, a mixed drink and a glass of wine is not that different from each other. I wonder if more people would turn to wine if that glass of wine there actually tasted good. Wine is not part of their life, they taste some, it is terrible and they think they don’t like wine.
Jay T - I agree. If my friends can’t put up w/ a few tidbits of info, then they’re not getting a pour of something good. The “try this and tell me if you like it” will lead to ice cubes and Sprite in the same glass. Craft beer nerds are sharing the same type of details as us wine nerds. I may not care, but I’ll at least give an honest listen to my friend who is sharing something he is obviously passionate about.
If I were worried about offending my friends by describing something that is a hobby of mine I’d be looking for new friends. Not to mention, you may be doing them a favor. If you wear a suit and tie to work, you better know how to order wine off a wine list. At some point in time, you will be at dinner and you will be handed the list and be asked to pick. You can either look like a dope in front of your boss’s boss and say “well, I only drink beer” or you can remember a few basics and not order a pinot gris and then ask the waiter why it’s not red. In this situation if you’re going to order a Bud Light you may as well ask for the kiddie menu too.
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