Shopping For Wine!

April 11, 2010...Went wine shopping with Glo at World Market and joined their "Wine Lovers Club". I love the ambiance in there with the music and smells! It's like a mental Moroccan vacation for me, minus the snakes and heat. As I roamed the wine section I was amazed at the graphics and art on most of the labels! I'm an artist so I was pulled in by the interesting ones and that led me to peruse the descriptions. Looking for good prices was a must since our life style change and it helped also in narrowing down some options. I chose a Pinot Noir ($8.99), a Shiraz ($5.99) and a Red Zinfandel ($6.98). In the past I never really bought wine like this, it was usually more of the same old staple wines that I knew my sister and I liked. Then, there was the "gift" wine that you brought to a house warming or party which my rule of thumb was the more expensive the better. I thought price over actually experiencing the wine first was all that mattered. Now, I'm finding that wine isn't something you give but something you share.

This new journey with wine is making it all so personal and I like that! I would never say I was a wine connoisseur but I'm not letting that stop me! I know what I like and now its about the entirety of it, whether I'm enjoying it alone, with someone special or at a gathering. This new encounter with wine takes my senses and thoughts to other places too. It reminds me of how I feel when I antique shop and the objects that I fall for have a whole history behind them. As I look them over I wonder who bought this originally? What was the woman who owned this bright colored velvet flower hat like? Would we get along now or is a little difference between friends personalities better? With wine though, I close my eyes, then I let it take me somewhere. I don't ask questions, I just let it take me.

Wines have their own distinctive personalities too! Seriously, as soon as I sniff it I will feel an instant sensation. Sometimes it's excitement, like I just saw someone I really missed and I get to hug them! I've felt melancholy like a rainy day, exuberant and happy like a sunflower, elegant like a black velvet dress and high heels, sexy like a hot summer night with crickets... Their personalities, when we meet them, are sometimes like a quiet friend that just listens and other times they add effervescence to a gathering. We actually "meet" a wine, see if we like it enough to invite it back or just send it on its way. A certain wine can be like a good old friend where others are best if their friends with someone else. I'll find my lips moving silently sometimes as I seem to be whispering my secrets into the bouquet. Each wine is unique because of so many reasons, like where it comes from or who's loving it as it grows. Not so different from us! Maybe that's why we enjoy each others company! Beautiful life!