Perhaps wine is an unusual subject for me to tackle; since the sum total of my 3 decades of imbibing would probably fill a 10 oz glass; but it so happens that everyone I correspond with regularly has been mentioning the heart healthful benefits of the fermented fruit from the vine. While all my correspondents are in favor of the healthful benefits, it so happens that none of us are particularly enamored of the taste. I quote my SIL: “Oh, got some red from Italy. Sterilized the drain with it–just plain
battery acid. I don’t know, I just don’t think I will ever like wine…” On the heals of her comment came a response from a cousin in the North West who tries to take a little wine for heart health but has never liked the taste of it. I myself always thought wine could do with a lot more sugar. My standard response is that I like about 2 ounces of rosé with a two inch wedge of cheesecake. That’s good for my heart, isn’t it? Last week another SIL sent me a bottle of homemade, vintage 2007; a product of her new hobby and wine-making kit (she grew the grapes herself). Upon uncorking, I was disappointed to find that it didn’t fit in the sweet comforts category any more than the others. A couple of days later I was chatting about all the foregoing wine experiences with an acquaintance of over thirty years who just happens to own a vineyard on the Western slope of Colorado. She passed on some expert wine lore learned from a veteran vintner: Men, it is said, usually prefer red wine because they tend to sip it to the sides of the tongue where it registers sweeter. Women usually find white wines to be sweeter and thus prefer them. This is because white is sweeter when sipped through the middle (across the tongue) as is the habit of women. Simple, but, it makes sense. Apparently my bites of cheesecake cause the red or rose wine to make a detour to the sides. So here is my advice:Ladies, slosh that wine around in your mouth like a man.SJO and DMH, quaff that wine with little less manners and a bit of a redneck attitude and you may enjoy it more.
