Wood on Wine

A sensory overhaul
© by Linwood Slayton
Every now and then I slip into a wine funk! I feel as though my passion for wine is at a nadir. I am simply unenthusiastic about drinking and experiencing wine. It feels terrible.

Periodically, I require a sensory overhaul or a monastic-like cessation of wine; I realize that in order for me to "enjoy" my wines as I truly can and do, I will have to take a break. So, I have been consciously refraining from the pursuit of my wine pleasures.

While it is true that there are related health concerns present, I am still actively engaged in a personal period of "treading water" insofar as my wine drinking experience. Yes, when I have consumed a half bottle or even a whole bottle in the course of an evening, it has been akin to going through the motions in many ways.

I have come to see that wine, like many other passions or genuine pursuits of pleasure, requires one's immersion and complete commitment to the total sensory experience. When, as I have, one finds himself merely going through the motions and consuming without real pleasure, so much of the experience is missing.

So, I have determined that while I wind my way through this interim malaise, I will try to avoid truly "good " wine as I hate to think that I might be missing something special due to my "poor wine attitude".

Let's face it - wine requires a certain attitude and I, for one, know that I prefer enjoying a special bottle of wine with all of the attendant circumstances properly in place. I certainly don't want to drink a glass of good Champagne from a paper cup. Nor do I want to drink a vintage bottle of Port alone and in the heat of a summer day. Similarly, I can't envision myself simply guzzling a bottle of aged Cabernet gulp by gulp.

Until I find myself back on the right path for my personal enjoyment of wine, I will try to be content with drinking good everyday wines with my meals and on those occasions where the company I am in demands a decent bottle of wine to enhance the evening's occasion.

Yet I am comforted with the knowledge that it's just a matter of time before the good times will roll again and I will be once again savoring my wine encounters with warm zeal. I do want to again be zealous when it comes to drinking and consuming wine. Time will come again!

Sept. 10, 2001