Wine as an Adjective
Most people would agree if I said that the word wine is a noun. It’s a thing, right. Wrong. In my house, wine is more frequently being used as an adjective. We have a wine cabinet to display our wine glasses and shelve red wines. The wine fridge keeps white wine at serving temperature. After I use my electric wine opener, I reseal the bottle with a wine stopper before placing it into our wine chiller. We have wine art and wine decor scattered throughout the house. There’s always a healthy stash of wine bags available for when we give gifts. I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point.
The fact is, wine toys are cool. I love when I get my Wine Enthusiast catalog, because I get to see the newest gadgets that have been designed to make my experience way more enjoyable. This is one facet where wine totally outshines beer. Seriously, how often did I really use my hardhat which allowed me to drink two beers at the same time hands free? I’ll have to admit that the beer bong got heavy use in my late teens, but I’m not sure if I could drink four beers in ten seconds anymore. And, if I could, would I still want to? Koozies are a great way to distinguish yourself and your beer from others, and I always keep several on hand, but they don’t have the charm of my etched commemorative wine glass collection. I actually had a friend years ago that kept a keg cooler in his bedroom. Is that really necessary?
Ok, I’ll admit that many items in my collection are not necessities. I remember wanting a decanter oh so badly after visiting the Boyd-Mullets in Ohio. It fascinated me to watch Josh swirl an entire bottle of wine and let it breathe. I spent hours on the internet, searching for the perfect deal. A couple weeks later, we were at Bed Bath and Beyond and I found it. Exactly what I needed. And it was on sale. I made a special trip to Specs to find a wine in crying out for a breath of air. I was happy, and I hadn’t even had a sip of wine yet.
Several months have passed, and I still use the decanter from time to time. However, much like Christmas presents in August, it has lost much of its appeal. What I desperately need now is better stemware. Something with my initials, so I will always know who I am and whether I’m at home or not. That and the four bottle travel case with the leopard-print lining. It comes with a built in corkscrew!
June 25th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Dude, I love the wine catalogs. I’m serious, World Market has great glasses that are cheap enough that you can afford to break them. As for your initials, I write my name on mine in sharpie. It comes off.
I’m bringing my “Grayton Beach” koozie to FL, baby.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Decanters are good to have on hand. They are especially good if you don’t like sediment in your glass. Just let the bottle stand for an hour, remove the cork and capsule, hold the neck over a candle and pour slowly into the decanter until you see the muck in the neck. Voila! And, yes, swirling a whole bottle of wine is down right gangsta.
What kind did you get?
June 25th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
It is a cheap Reidel shaped like yours. Currently, I’m looking for some mini carafes to use for wine tasting. We were served mimosas in them a couple Sundays ago, and they’re perfect. I tried a strawberry and a raspberry mimosa, awesome for taking the edge off a hangover.