Netscape Forum Poll: I first got serious about wine ...

[Robin Garr]

How old were you when you first got seriously into wine as hobby, interest and passion? Barely legal ... or less? Or did you come to wine later in life? Pick your personal drinking age in this week's poll; then join the discussion and tell us more about your story!

<b>Click here to vote</b>

(You don't need to log in or register in the Netsape/CompuServe forum to vote. Feel free to discuss this topic on either forum.)

[David M. Bueker]

I was 27 when I really GOT IT. I'm still upset that I didn't catch the bug right at 21. I would have been able to buy '89s and '90s when they were much less expensive (of course I had no money, but let's not cloud the issue with facts).

How old? 25. Before that, I actually abstained from wine thinking that wine gave me a headache ... not really understanding that it was the low-end detritus of the wine world that people would serve during their special occasions that was actually giving me those pounding headaches after a couple of sips; I don't think I ever tasted real wine until I was 21 - it was a cheap but good Egri Bikavér; dry and peppery and very invigorating.

Once I forever gave up colas and other soft drinks and began to earnestly take an interest in how quality beers and wines are made, and as I tried said beers and wines and found no ill effects - even with more than a few glasses at times - my eyes were figuratively opened to the truth. In vino veritas!

Latecomer here. I was 40 (now 50) before I got into wine. I had been a serious Homebrewer for years previous to that, but a bit of intestinal surgery left me unable to handle carbonation in almost any form..

I found wine as an alternative to beer. Have never looked back.

Richard

I began to aquire an appreciation for wine about 3 years ago, at age 50.
Growing up in the 70's, my first wines were the usual suspects- Boone's Farm, Ripple, M.D 20/20. From there I moved on to such stellar offerings as Mateus, Lancer's, and Blue Nun. Looking back, I now know why I didn't drink wine for 30 years.

My beverages of choice for most of my adult life were Vodka, single-malt Scotch, and a few imported beers, which I still enjoy from time to time. However, I have now developed an affinity for big, over-priced Cali-style Cabs. My wallet isn't very happy and my wife thinks I'm nuts, but there is no turning back !

CHEERS!

Art

In my 30s... specifically age 30, 7-8 months ago on my honeymoon in Italy.

Robin, why don't you do a poll here instead of the Netscape forum? Might be interesting.

[Robin Garr]

Robin, why don't you do a poll here instead of the Netscape forum? Might be interesting.

I could ... this forum certainly has a poll feature. Frankly, though, I like to do this weekly poll on Netscape because the poll is open to Wine Advisor readers, and you DON'T need to go through a registration process to vote. To vote in this forum's poll, people would have to register, which knocks down participation and would also tend to fill our roster with more members who register but don't come back to post.

Since you DON'T have to register or log in on Netscape to vote, and since you can click the link right here to go to the poll, I'm not sure where the downside is.

March of 1995 when I was about 58 I guess. Motivation: high cholesterol counts and a doctor who suggested I try red wine to help lower the count.

Literature, complexity of red wines, finding several online wine communities, finding several wine lovers in person -- I was soon hooked into a new hobby.

Twice for me, actually.
The first was in my early 30's when we bought RCW (really cheap wine) and made notes in Hugh Johnson's atlas on the page describing the region, collected a few baskets full of corks, etc.. We never found that WOW wine (no surprise considering our price range) and gradually drifted into jug wine, beer, Jack Daniels, etc....
The second came in my 50s, when we bought a wine dinner at a charity auction, and the host contributed some RGW (really good wine) including some older Bordeaux (1982) and some wonderful Rhone wine, including some beautifully aged Beaucastel. The Beaucastel was my epiphany wine.
I now find myself, inexplicably, less consumed by thoughts of wine than I did a year or 5 ago, drinking wine that is just good enough for the occasion, only very occasionally finding a "blow me away" wine (though most are, I am sure, as good or better than wines that did blow me away a few scant years ago), and less frequently checking into the goings-on here. I think I must be on the back end of my second wine cycle.
I need help.

Since you DON'T have to register or log in on Netscape to vote, and since you can click the link right here to go to the poll, I'm not sure where the downside is.

I wasn't suggesting having a single poll here, just a separate poll here. I never visit the Netscape site so wouldn't see anything posted there, but I thought it might be interesting to have an independent poll here.

My wine interest has gone in phases.

I started taking a serious interest in wine in the late 50s before I was 20 and was befriended by an old fashioned wine merchant who was prepared to devote considerable time nurturing my interest even though my consumption did not then exceed one half-bottle of fine Bordeaux per week. In those days "serious" wine was limited to "claret" (mainly Médoc), Burgundy, Champagne, "Hock", "Moselle", sherry and port. I still have fond memories of several long stays in Bordeaux in the mid-60s when the 1953s were drinking superbly. Somehow although I was not earning a lot, wines like Cos d'Estournel and Pichon-Lalande were accessible in then excellent restaurants, like Dubern in les Allées de Tourny.

My interest went dormant in the early 70s when I bought a house and bred a family because my resources were going elsewhere. It has only re-awakened since the mid-90s once my mortgage was repaid and the children's education was complete. Of course, the palette of interesting wine is now far wider than in the 50s and 60s but i can no longer contemplate ordering a super-second in a leading restaurant!

I still regret that I was fully committed in mortgage repayments in the mid-70s and missed the opportunity when savage recession and rampant inflation meant that a lot of fine Bordeaux from 61, 62, 66 and 70 was being unloaded on the market at ridiculously low prices.

[Robin Garr]

I wasn't suggesting having a single poll here, just a separate poll here. I never visit the Netscape site so wouldn't see anything posted there, but I thought it might be interesting to have an independent poll here.

Ah, okay, we can do that some time. I'd just as soon not have them run at the same time, though, which could cause confusion. And again, all you have to do is click the link in the first post in this thread to vote in the Netscape poll and it will pop right up - no registration, no login - so it hardly counts as a "visit."

I sort of really "got it" in my mid to late 30's. I certainly had drunk wine before that but nothing that really got my interest. It's hard to get hooked on the too sweet concord grape wine my mother was partial to. After that there were the Mateus and the chianti that you really bought so you could put a drip candle in the neck of the basket covered bottle.... and don't remind me of the T-Bird and the forays into Boone's Farm and MD 20-20. But in my 30's I got seriously into champagne and tried a bunch of them. Later, I got into California Cabs. It's only for the last 10-12 years that I have really been open to the wide world of wine. I now know there are a lot more good wines out there than I will ever have a chance to try.

But in some ways wine is frustrating. First, I am never going to afford the top stuff. 20-30 year old perfectly stored first growths have never been and never will be part of my experience. And when you do find a wine you really like and can afford... well, you can't ever get enough of it. When you have to buy it, it's not ready to drink and you don't really know how it's going to turn out. By the time you drink it and really love it, you can't get anymore. Oh well.

Glenn

I was 16 when I got to taste my first "good" wines. It wasn't long after that I got to taste some "bloody special" wines. I did enjoy them and some of them made everlasting impressions, but I think it wasn't until I was 20 that I started to systematically pay attention to what I drink.

-O-

The problem I have with this poll is the question of what is meant by "serious"? In my case, and (I expect) that of many others, I came to my present state gradually: by age 20 I was intrigued; by 23 I was very interested; by 27 I was fascinated; by 30 I was totally smitten and by 40 I was obsessed. So, at what point did my relationship with wine become "serious"? Was it the first time I went to an organized tasting? (21) or was it the first time I laid down a bottle of wine for aging? (22) Was it the first time I subscribed to a wine publication? (21) or was it when I outfitted a cellar with racks? (27)

Mark Lipton

I drank cheap stuff, pretty indiscriminately, until age 28, when I had an encounter with a bottle of 1968 Joseph Phelps Cabernet. The situation didn't become desperate until I was in my mid-40s and developed a condition known as CMDS, Chassagne-Montrachet Deficiency Syndrome. I don't produce any Chassagne-Montrachet naturally, and my body chemistry seems to require it. And every year, it gets more and more expensive...

I now know there are a lot more good wines out there than I will ever have a chance to try.

But in some ways wine is frustrating. First, I am never going to afford the top stuff. 20-30 year old perfectly stored first growths have never been and never will be part of my experience. And when you do find a wine you really like and can afford... well, you can't ever get enough of it. When you have to buy it, it's not ready to drink and you don't really know how it's going to turn out. By the time you drink it and really love it, you can't get anymore. Oh well.

Glenn

I can certainly relate to that, Glenn! It seems as if I will never reach the point where I feel comfortable paying over $20-25 for a bottle of wine, although I certainly can spend that much on a drinkable single-malt or Kentucky bourbon. I think I am about to drive my darlin' wife crazy lately with my recent wine obsession!

I never drank anything alcoholic until I attended that uber-party school, University of Georgia, back in the late 1970's, but only occasionally was I imbibing wine. My first wife frowned upon drinking, except for a very occasional bottle on an anniversary or some other special occasion, and being in the Deep South, in a Baptist congregation, social drinking was saved for deer camp or fishing trips with my Dad.

But I am trying now to make up for lost time, and like to try a wide variety just to taste the differences.

The situation didn't become desperate until I was in my mid-40s and developed a condition known as CMDS, Chassagne-Montrachet Deficiency Syndrome. I don't produce any Chassagne-Montrachet naturally, and my body chemistry seems to require it.

Loved it!!

Thanks for making my evening ...

It happened in my late '30's. I played the ugly American on a business trip to Germany and told a German in the Mosel region that wine bored me because it all tasted the same. Of course my statement was made out of complete ignorance. My German host took extreme offense and proceeded to introduce me to Riesling. He sent me home with four bottles. My wife and I fell in love with the juice and have proceed to guzzle down many thousand of dollars worth of wines of all varieties since that fateful day. I am glad that I pissed-off my German host lest I would have never started on this most enjoyable journey.

I was 21 and living in rural Uruguay serving in the Peace Corps. Almost all the wine I consumed was red except for homemade "vineta" which was consummed in the hot summer. Vineta was made from the lees of the red wine after the wine had been drained off. Water and sugar were added and a second fermentation took place. The resulting wine was a low alcohol refreshingly fruity rose.

It started when I was about 24. All it took was my then-girlfriend saying, "Oh look! That wine's from Amador County - my mom live there!"

And the rest is history.



Mike

I have always enjoyed wine, albeit table wine, or mass produced wines since I was about 18 or 19. Was not till my early 30's in the mid to late 90's that I began to pay attention, especially when introduced to Sagrantino and Brunello while in Italy. That got my curiosity going, so I began to buy wine books, including Mary Ewing-Mulligan's Italian Wine for Dummies. It's been downhill since!

I was a casual white wine drinker since I was in my late teens (legal in my part of the world), and actually developed a liking to Gewurztraminer (which i still possess) when I was a grad student at Southern Cal. I was forced to stop drinking wine due to hyperacidity triggered by - what else - white wine.

I really became serious about wine after a trip to Italy and France in 2001. Staring in Florence, with wine served free as part of the "coperta" (fee for sitting on a table in restautants) and bottled water priced very expesively, I started drinking table wine with the food - and I was hooked forever!