Wine is Lovely

You can see why it's been around a long time. I keep trying to figure out why I should not like wine, but I can't. I like it. I like the ancient history of it. I like the snobbery of it. I like the warmth of it. I like how whenever we spend time trying to find it, it always ends up with a good story, a good time, new and interesting people and places we found.

There is a story about finding wine in Levenworth, Washington, on someone's wedding day with the bride and groom that took us to a corner of a vintner's yard under a trellis of wine grapes on a sunny afternoon in the corner of a vineyard with a wicker basket of wine glasses and a hand shake promise to pay for the 6 bottles of wine I just verbally and physically bought with no check book or credit card or ID, but a committment to return tomorrow with my checkbook and driver's license. That's why wine is nice.

There are stories of wine tasting with new friends, only to end with purple lips at the end of the evening and a general feeling of warmth and happiness and friendship.

There are stories of being exposed to expensive wine and sometimes thinking that wine is just silly and who would pay so much for something that would move through the human body so fast just to be eliminated and then sometimes thinking that I would pay anything to drink that wonderful elixir again because it meant feeling that way again. There were moments when I finally understood the value in wine, the expense. It's not just some beverage that quenches a thirst. It's sustenance to satisfy the soul. It's almost a friend. Sometimes it's better than a friend. And I know that makes me sound like an alcoholic. Maybe I am. So be it.

Wine is lovely. It's history. It's culture. It's sustenance. It's romance. It's tradition, memory, experience, luxury, friendship, comfort, strength and so much more. I love it. I will always love it. I would like to spend the rest of my life enjoying it in the company of good food and interesting conversation with people I love.