Wine for 'Girls night' at home story/inquiry

WINE TALK
21

I keep an assortment of wines like Columbia Crest H3, Oregon Pinot Gris, basic Chianti, Spanish Garnacha, even California Chardonnay on a rack in the kitchen for my wife to pop for any and all. Another shelf in the wine cellar is designated as such as well.
That hasn’t prevented a few minor mishaps, like the Radio Coteau La Neblina that I had not yet put away, or the vintage Port standing to settle the sediment. At least her friends enjoyed the wine.

Peter Hickner

22

Beer is my cellar defender. I keep a large variety of different styles of good craft beers and the non winos are happy. Rum and coke also works.

23

I’ve had similar things happen where my partner opened wines I was saving. It was completely accidental and she felt horrible and ended up buying a bunch of colored dots to mark the wines that are safe to open and that worked. Now, like other people, we have a separate space for wines that are safe to drink and there aren’t any worries. The “safe” wines are still ones I like to drink but are less expensive and things that are readily available so we can restock if we want more. Because she homebrews, we normally have two beers on draft as well, plus a few commercial beers in bottles. If she has her work friends over, they normally drink beer, so it’s not much of an issue.

24

And if none of that works, we’ve got a vitamix and a bottle of vodka

25

Seems to me that you need to talk to your wife about her parties and what supplies should be kept on hand for those parties, impromptu and otherwise. Then go to your favorite local all-purpose wine store and pick out at least a mixed case of wine dedicated for those parties so you have bottles on hand specifically for that purpose…

Bruce

26

I am trying not to reply to this thread.

27

I am right there with you, Kim.

28

’

LOL

29

I think this would apply not only to ‘girls night’ but ‘any night’ with ‘any group’ of non-wine-geeks. It’s a bit uncomfortable to label it as you have.

30

Todd, while I completely understand Kim’s and Merrill’s hesitation to respond because of the sexist undercurrent, that’s the way I chose to interpret it. In the past when I’ve pointed out that notes like “this is a great wine for wives” were sexist, I’ve been summarily ignored by the other posters in the thread. So now, sometimes, I just post a reply and hope that pointing out that I have similar experiences will make people realize it’s not a gender issue - it’s a wine geek vs non-wine geek issue.

I should also point out that when my partner opened wines I was saving it was for some of her male friends who knew nothing about wine. I’ve actually seen them exclaiming about how great corked wines were in the past. What do you expect from a bunch of guys who will drink anything?

31

[scratch.gif]

Seems like for Rich it IS “Girls Night”. Nothing wrong with that. For someone else it could be “Boys Night” or “Kids Night” or “Hell on Wheels” night. My wife it going on a “Girls Night Out” to a restaurant I’d really like to try next week. I’m NOT invited. I makes me sad. [cry.gif] Nothing wrong with that. I don’t take it personally. I’m going to “Poker Night” AKA “Boys Night” this Wednesday. Sometimes “Girls” like to hang with “Girls” and “Boys” like to hang with “Boys”, no need to get too worked up about it. I don’t think anything derogatory was intended.

blahblah

Okay I’m done. Cheers! [cheers.gif]

32

My feeling is that as long as the person is interested in the wine, I’ll open it. If they’re asking me questions, what is it, where’s it from, etc. then I’ll share better and better bottles.
If they’re not curious, then I’ll open something that I was likely gifted or I want to get rid of anyway.

33

You started out pretty well and then… what?

I think the point to make is that the initial post was unfortunately poorly phrased, but if you can look past it, he raises an interesting question: what do you give non-wine geeks who crash your house unexpectedly? What type of wines do you keep on hand for these situations? How do you gracefully protect your cellar from indiscriminate guzzlers demanding the first vinous booze they see?

34

You’re right.
The answer is yes - have some decent, inexpensive wines that you’re not too attached to around for occasions such as these. :smiley:

35

My wife refers to Picpoul de Pinet as the “ultimate ladies’ luncheon wine” and she might be right. Pleases most people, and depending on the producer, has just a touch of real or perceived residual. Great on its own or with appetizers or a meal.
Decent examples abound for $12 or less.

36

Good list, except for the white Zin. Buying that is more awkward than buying, um, “protection” as a kid.

37

Forget about Mark West Pinot … if they guzzled all these “really cool” wines (and, I agree — those are much more interesting than Mark West Pinot) then I would make sure to always have a mixed case of these “really cool” wines on hand for these events! Yeah, I know those “really cool” bottles, although inexpensive, were likely twice as expensive as Mark West Pinot, but you can easily find other really cool wines for the same price as Mark West Pinot. I’d walk into my local wine shop, and tell them that you want a couple mixed cases of really cool wines at that Mark West Pinot price point. Great way to support a local wine shop that has interesting selection at the low end, and ya never know ---- some of your wife’s friends may eventually start turning into wine geeks as a result, which I assume your wife (and her friends) would enjoy. There’s plenty of cheap good wine out there, so there’s no need to drink cheap bad wine — and that goes not only for you, but also your wife’s friends.

I haven’t read others’ responses yet, so I’m sorry if my post was merely repeating what others have said.

38

Exactly. I’d say

Donnhoff Estate Riesling, Leitz Dragonstone, Pinon Vouvray.

All moderately priced crowd pleasing wines that I’d drink happily (and in the latter case happily age). They work for everyone except the people who say things like “ugh, riesling is too sweet. Do you have any pink zinfandel?”

39

Oy vey. [help.gif]

40

No, I did not poorly phrase my initial post; I told a story about what happened at my house on Saturday night…nothing more, nothing less. If people want to look and try to find a sexist subtext, that is their issue, not mine.

If I had said something to the effect that all women dislike good wine, what should I keep on hand in the event that a woman asks for some wine since she could never appreciate a nuanced bottle?..then yes that would be sexist (and I would obviously never say that b/c a.) it is incredibly ignorant and b.) it is incredibly untrue). I was talking about a specific set of people: my wife’s friends. Specifically, they do not appreciate wine to the extent that many on this board do.

Any attempt to find sexism in my post is more of a refection of the person finding it than the post itself.