Hooked on a Bottle

    For every wine lover you speak to, there’s a bottle of wine that shaped them into the enthusiast they are today.

    My first wine memories started in my teen years, Christmas lights twinkling, holiday music softly playing in the background, and my grandma and mom giving me a concoction in the much-desired, sophisticated looking wine glass. The beverage was a cocktail consisting of mostly 7-Up with a splash of Arbor Mist Peach Wine, just enough to make me feel like one of the grown-ups. Even at that young age, I knew there was something very special about holding that glass while being surrounded by family, Christmas dinner on the table.

    Fast-forward ten years, and I was working for a woman who made Meryl Streep’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada” look like a cuddly kitten. Day after grueling day of putting up with the woman’s shenanigans, I found the perfect way to unwind, and to simply not go insane, was a stop at the gym followed by dinner in my sweats, a well-deserved glass of wine in hand. The luxury of renting my own little house at that time meant a small budget towards my splurge purchases, so my bottle selections consisted of wines as close to $10 as possible with labels that had caught my eye. Even with those basic selections, pouring that glass just felt like magic each day.

    After about a year into my nightly wine dinners, my wine life was about to change.

    The start of this story occurs when a pilot my dad knew from work gifted him a bottle of wine. At that time my mom’s wine preference was pretty much Lambrusco, and my dad loved the other “w,” whiskey, so he gave me the bottle. I opened it, truly knowing nothing about wine, and was shocked by the flavors that hit my tongue from what I thought was this wonderful winery known as Châteauneuf-du-Pape; yes, I was actually under the impression that Châteauneuf-du-Pape was a winery, not a wine region. This bottle was nothing like my usual evening quaffs.

    A few weeks later, with that bottle of wine still on my mind, some friends and I decided to take the short drive up the canyon to one of my absolute favorite places in the world, Estes Park, Colorado. Enjoying all of the shops and treats this beautiful mountain town has to offer, we stumbled upon a tasting room for Snowy Peaks Winery. Using Colorado grapes to craft their wines, and selling other Colorado made wines, we were excited to try some of the “nectar of the gods” from our home state. We bellied on up to the tasting bar.

    Novice to boot, I stuck with the basics I knew how to pronounce, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and, of course, only chose reds because at that point I would only drink red wine. Well, red wine and the occasional sparkling wine I always referred to as Champagne, no matter where it came from. Anyways…

    Nearing the end of my flight, I picked up a glass and took a glug, no swirling and sniffing for me at this point in my life, and quickly had to set my glass down in awe. I was greeted with bold flavors I now know to be plum, chocolate, and mint. I was speechless. I hadn’t known wine love until then. Slowing myself down, I picked my glass back up and inhaled the perfume coming from it, and took another sip, lingering with the liquid in my mouth this time. I was dumb-struck. Who knew wine could taste this good? I wanted to stay there all day, and just buy glass after glass of this beautiful red beverage. Though it was a bit over my $10 price limit, I bought one single bottle and precious-cargoed it all the way home.

    During the evenings that bottle was part of my dinner ritual, I really started to focus on what was in the bottle and analyze all of its amazing components. I couldn’t believe how one beverage could be so complex. From that moment on, my hunt for more amazing wines commenced. The discovery of such an extraordinary wine caused me to stop picking wines based on labels and up my wine budget just a bit. I was now basing my purchase on suggestions of those working in stores or restaurants, reviews and ratings from magazines, and a general desire to explore more from a particular variety or region. My wine consumerism had changed.

    Since that fateful sip, my wine life has continued to grow and grow. Now married, my wonderful husband has turned one of our basement closets into a mini wine cellar, I track every wine I have tried through various books and apps, I scour our local area for wine events and wineries and try to experience as many of them as possible, I take classes and find various reading materials to learn as much as I can about this fascinating beverage, and most importantly, I enjoy each and every sip of my nightly glass of wine paired with my dinner.

    Though I have never experienced that particular bottle again, as a mere couple of months after that lovely afternoon in Estes, I ventured back up the canyon to secure another bottle only to learn that they had recently sold-out, I will forever hold the memory of the taste of that wine and how it led me to a whole new world. Every year, I not only treat myself to the recent vintage of Snowy Peaks Winery Cabernet Sauvignon (I’m currently working on the 2015 and have 2016 through 2019 cellared), but I find new and amazing wines that transport me to vineyards all around the world. I owe all of the joy, knowledge and love I have gained for the wine world to that deliciously wonderful bottle of wine.