National Drink Wine Day is celebrated on the eighteenth of February and I think it sounds like a grand reason to celebrate. Now before anyone accuses me of proselytizing questionable morals, let me say that the last thought of wine Bloggers is to get blotto. We enjoy tasting and drinking wines, and I am a rank amateur, compared to many. I enjoy the events where wine is part of the event and perhaps enhances the moment. Wine should be fun and as I have gotten older and perhaps more mature, I have expanded my appreciation for all wines.

I have had the good fortune to have discovered wines around 1969, which is as good of a guess, as I can make. That was the year I started high school and I discovered that it was very difficult to take a young lady out on a date and order beer, because it required all sorts of identification and proof that I was of the age of majority. We dressed up a bit more and went out for dinner, where there was a wine list, and the question of my age was never brought up. It was exciting at that age, but even more I got a chance to start discovering wines. I became what I would call a self-appointed wine snob at that tender age, and I would only drink European wines and preferably French wines. There were times that I had to “drink” below my self-appointed “status,” and even at that age, I could discern the difference in wines and wondered how anyone could drink anything but Medoc or Burgundy wines, with the potential of some Cotes du Rhone wines as well. I was having fun, and it became a hobby for me and I wanted to try other wines as well, just to make sure that I wasn’t missing out on anything. At that time I was a student and I applied the same study habits to wines as well. I started to try Italian, German and Spanish wines; and they were all good. Wine was becoming even more fun, and I enjoyed my studies even more, when I could afford the indulgences.

Then I discovered the New World, which for the most part I had shunned for years, thinking that they were bulk wines. I was proven wrong and now there were so many more wines to discover. New areas to try, and then sometimes the grape took precedent over the district and I had to re-educate myself to this dynamic hobby that I was enjoying. Wine was everywhere and it was impossible to keep up. My Bride who when we met only drank white wines, now has a passion for red wines and if it is Cabernet Franc, she is even more enthusiastic. For years I would offer suggestions to people to try different wines, and I guess I even do it more. I even will drink bulk wines if it fits the occasion, as I have matured, and stopped being that snob that I began as. Wine is for me appropriate in almost any time or event, though there may even be several days when I do not even have one glass of wine. So let me be enthusiastic and tell everyone to enjoy National Drink Wine Day, and I shall join you.