The learning curve of wine

Many years ago, when I was in England and first drinking, I had a very bad reaction following a meal that included wine. The doctor I spoke to concluded — for whatever reason — that I was “allergic to wine.” I was 18 and it didn’t occur to me to question a doctor so, for many years I simply avoided wine and grape juice. And I mean many years — it wasn’t until Mike started sneaking wine into sauces and such (then confessing he’d done so) that I started to wonder what the heck had caused the reaction. I will never know for sure, though there is a good chance it was sulfites, something I have reacted to in other foods.

And even though I wasn’t reacting to wine used in cooking, I still subconsciously couldn’t enjoy wine because I was always worried I would have a mystery reaction. As a result, I never learned anything about wine.

But sometime in the last few years, I started drinking a glass here and there — when bottles were opened. Last night, since Mike and I were out for a “date night” before we met some friends for a social gathering, we ordered a bottle with dinner. A whole bottle between us — and after all these years, that was the first time we’d done that.

I relied on Mike to pick something and since we were both having steak, we went with a “bold” red wine, Sumac Ridge Cabernet Merlot. It was stronger (dryer) than I’d like, but I still drank it. (Turns out, its dryness rating is a 0 which is as dry as you can get. Good to know!)

I think we will be doing more wine explorations in coming weeks — I don’t expect I will ever be a connoisseur or anyone who describes wine the way they did in Sideways, but I hope that we can build a list of wines we like. I already know I prefer medium to dry and red over white in general so it’s somewhere to start.