Nice (Wine) Rack!

I’ve been doing some wine reading lately, as previously mentioned. One of the things that jumped out at me is that two writers in a row made analogies between wine and women.

Of course, if women can be seductive, intoxicating, beguiling and often magical, with the ability to be soft or firm, subtle or brassy, gentle or acidic, then I suppose the comparison is apt. I might also add that both have the potential to leave you penniless and confused.

Here is a quote from "Adventures on the Wine Route," by Kermit Lynch:

"This all reminds me of an acquaintance who always seemed to have a new girlfriend. His girlfriends always had two things in common: huge breasts. His choices might be pretty or not, intelligent or not, interesting or not. Nothing seemed to matter to him as long as the breasts were enormous. It was such an impractical way to assess the quality of a woman that it began to seem almost perverse. And I have an almost identical reaction to those who go gaga over an inky, oaky, monster wine…."

We have all known that guy.

Another quote from "A Hedonist in the Cellar," by Jay McInerney:

"In the mid-1990s, the typical Napa or Sonoma Chardonnay had much in common with a vanilla milk shake or, figuratively speaking, with the reigning queen of Baywatch, Pamela Anderson."

I think the analogy is pretty clear.

I’ll admit that if I compare my taste in wine to my taste in women, there are some similarities.

If you were to line up all the women I have dated, you would be hard pressed to spot the common denominator. The same can be said of my wine rack, my music collection and my art (I use that term very loosely to describe certain objects in my house used for decorative purposes).

I don’t like homogeny. I enjoy the diversity that life has to offer and it surprises me when others do not. I want my wine rack to reveal the complexities and contradictions that define me as a person. Not to mention, I don't want to drink the same thing every day.

Who wants to live in a world with filet mignon but no cheeseburgers? Mozart but no Rolling Stones? Robert De Niro but no Three Stooges? Audrey Hepburn but no Sophia Loren? Screaming Eagle but no Tavel?

Apparently some people do.