Wine Closet : My Favorite Wine is....

 Okay, my wine education was not limited to a night with a lonely wine maker, nope I found a true Italian family winery to work at and fall in love with a grape since all the children and workers were already spoken for. 

Of course, I found the most difficult grape to fall in love with. A small tiny cluster that could not handle cold frost or temperatures over 100 degrees for any length of time that would be welcomed. Don't get me started on the thin skinned or stem as it were. No, it was technically not a noble grape and worse I couldn't fathom a grape as fancy as Cabernet or Carignan. Nope, like Zinfandel the Charbono grape in California was unique and fussy. Its deep red color, the way the grape juice picks up wood and dirt (tannins) and honestly is my favorite pair of jeans while noshing of steak. 

So, you can imagine my disappointment when I found a great wine and it didn't taste good. It happens, some wine can not age past six years while others last for decades. The fact is that I can't just enjoy wine. I have to experience it with cheese and aged meat. I can't just sit down a drink a glass of wine, but I need a view preferably an ocean that I can just stare out at and not pay attention to the flames of the insurrection that are at the door. 

I love making a meal, planning an event and most of all the wine. The glass, the pour, the smell, the exploration of thought that occurs when my sensory explodes on the first swallow. 

I learn a lot from a glass of wine and while I may enjoy it at home alone I think about where I want to go next with it. I once thought a National Geographic walking tour in France was a good option. Now, I am not so sure I will ever make it. Granted, there are youtube videos I can watch but, damn it if I don't want to go and experience it myself.