Wino

Yesterday, I did one of the most grown up things I have ever done in my life - I bought my first case of wine. I practically had buttons popping off my shirt as I directed the Wine Salesman to my car.

So not only is this a totally grown-up thing to do, but it has become something of a practical one as well. Before you start emailing me the number to AA, let me explain. When I was younger I really used to like sweet wines. My father-in-law, a man who will only drink wine that burns off the top layer of skin in your mouth, has often made me the butt of his Dr. Zen Zen jokes. Well, either he has been rubbing off on me or my palate has been evolving, because for the last year I have moved decidedly away from very sweet wines to dryer fare. Now let me clarify that I will never pick a Chardonnay over a Reisling, it is just that my days of drinking Orvieto are over.

This move had has found me obessed with, Gewurztraminers. This is a semi-sweet, spicy white wine that can go from a really rich yellow to a very pale gold. Gewurt's as officinados call them, have the right mix of sweet and dry that I like. The problem is they are not hugely popular like Merlots or Chardonnays so they are harder to find. On top of that two of my favorites Spy Valley and Villa Maria, both from New Zealand, are allocated. This means that there is a limited supply brought into the country. Generally, this is due to the fact that the wineries that produce them are small and thus have limited quantities. Which effects my third favorite, Quails Gate; which is grown in British Columbia, as well. Because of this I can litterly wait months for more stock to come in. Right now the one wine store I use to buy Spy Valley (because of course you can't buy all these brands from only one story, that would make my life far too easy) has been out for over 2 months. Last year I wasn't able to get Quails Gate for close to three.

Therefore, it has became obvious to me that I need to take control of my wine drinking future. Unless I wanted to go back to Dr. Zen Zen.

Picture from Flickr