Let us take a step back in time for a moment to help you try to understand.
In college, I didn't drink beer like most college kids. Beer smelled and tasted like urine to me. I drank rum. I loved rum. In fact, I still love rum. My fruity go-to drink was Sex on the Beach and my every day bar drink was Bacardi and Coke. It had to be Bacardi - the light not the dark. I hated Captain Morgan. I remember going to Lulu's in Georgetown and also to Polly Esther's back in the day and I would even branch out into Long Island Iced Tea world.
In 2001, I started dating a guy whose parents were big wine drinkers. Every Sunday, we would have dinner at their house and they would insist on putting a wine glass in front of my seat at the table. Every Sunday, I would graciously decline and we'd go through the whole ordeal every single time. Quite exhausting. Needless to say, this went on for about seven years and they never did "get it". His sister would have rum waiting for me as I approached the driveway - she felt my pain. Actually, there were a lot of things they didn't "get" about me and I'm happy to say that not long after this relationship ended, I was introduced to wine in a much more pleasant way. As a result, I have become the wine snob that I am today. The irony of it all is that I guarantee I know more and have a more refined palette than anyone in that family. It makes me giggle every once in a while. It's funny how things turn out in life sometimes.
When I first started learning about wine in 2008, I would enjoy the sweeter whites. I remember Blue Crab Blanc from Ingleside. I would often sip that wine at the Fish Market in Old Town Alexandria. I also would enjoy a light Pinot Grigio every so often. I couldn't drink a lot of it though because it wasn't that appealing to me. I was still trying to acquire a taste for alcoholic grape juice.
I do recall frequenting my Old Town "happy place", Overwood, and became quite fond of a Chenin Blanc from South Africa, by the name of Kanu. What made it different from my previous experiences? I was actually dating someone who was trying to educate me on wine and not just shove it down my throat because he liked it. I had someone who was trying to figure out what I did and didn't like about wine so that we could figure out what I would enjoy. It was about trial and error. It was about someone taking the time to actually care about what I thought. Novel concept, eh? You'd think that my husband and inlaws would have cared enough to go that route, right? Obviously not. Too bad it didn't just end with the wine either.
In the early days of my wine tasting, I would often do what everyone does.... choose a wine by the attractiveness of the label. Was the label pretty? Well, then the wine must be delicious. Silly girl. However, if you didn't know much about wine, like I didn't, then that was just as good a choice as any, I thought. Some of those panned out. Some of them - most of them - of course, did not.
Even now, seven years later with five of those years being a wine club member, I still am often drawn to the interesting labels on wine bottles. My favorite winery, Orin Swift, is known for its out of the ordinary, often bizarre, labels. The good news is Orin Swift wine is just as fabulous as its labels. I don't choose wine based on the decorative label anymore but I must stay I am still often intrigued by them. Let's face it. The label is the first thing that catches my eye but now I know better. I read the label to see what aromas or flavors are described and what grapes make up the wine. If the label isn't descriptive enough for me then I go to the wonderful world of Google to find out before I make a decision.
Just a few weeks ago, I was researching online and found a wine in a review. I couldn't even tell you what type of wine - all I knew was it was red. I immediately reverted back to my pre-wine drinking days and thought, I don't care how horrible this may be, I MUST have it. Why, you ask?
I like simple, clean lines. To quote my grandmother, I don't like a lot of "gingerbread". But more importantly, it has a dragonfly on the label and I LOVE dragonflies. Dragonflies are extremely special to me and provide me a source of inner strength. To those of you who know me, this shouldn't be a surprise. One day, perhaps, I'll have to blog about the importance of the dragonfly in my life but for now I don't need to. She knows. She's obviously the one who made this dragonfly wine appear in my line of sight.
I have become quite educated on wine (although there is so much more to learn) and have a pretty good hold on what I like and don't like these days. However, sometimes, I still have to go with my gut and buy the wine based on the beauty and meaning of the label. This is one of those instances.
In water one sees one's own face; but in wine one beholds the heart of another.
~ French proverb
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