Wine to serve your cousin Guido

We Wine Guys and Gals have a sacred duty to spread our love and deep knowledge of wine with those around us.  There is nothing we like more when sharing a glass of fine wine with a neophyte then seeing that look of delight in their eyes and you know you have just helped them understand that wine is more about the art than it is about the alcohol. 

But I have also come to realize no matter how hard I try I will never see that look in the eyes of some people.  

I love my cousin Guido.  We shared some great memories growing up playing army, shooting hoops, and getting into several varieties of trouble not appropriate to mention on a family oriented wine blog.  He helped me get through some rough patches in my life, and I in his.  He is one of the most important relationships in my life and there is no one I would rather share my love of wine with. 

I got transferred to another town and had not seen Guido for a couple of years.  It was during those couple of years that I made my transformation from civilian to “Wine Guy”.  One day I got a call from Guido that he was driving out west and wanted to stop  by for a couple of days.  I was excited to catch up, show him Arizona, and share some of my best wine  The day he arrived it was a typical early summer day in Arizona, it was 100 something degrees but the humidity had not kicked in so it was comfortable to sit on the patio in the shade.  Soon after he arrived we took our seats on the patio and started catching up.  After a few minutes I told him about how I had started studying wine.  I told him about Tavel Rose from the Rhone wine region in France.  I went on about how it was darker and a bit more intense than other Rose’s and that it was the perfect  wine for this hot summer day and that I was going to open a bottle and let him give it a try.  Instead of giving me a look of eager anticipation he looked at me as if I was talking to him in Klingon, and after questioning my commitment to heterosexuality, he blurted out “whatever”.  

I viewed this as a temporary setback. Surely after tasting the Tavel he would understand what I was talking about and he too would be transformed! I ran into the house grabbed a couple of specially made Riedel wine glasses and the bottle of Tavel.   I poured some wine in each of our classes and marveled at the translucent ruby red color.  I moved the glass to my nose and experienced an aroma that alternated between raspberry, strawberry, and my mother’s homemade jam.   I took a sip and tasted hints of strawberries, cherries, with a long flinty/spicy finish.  Amazing!  I looked over at Guido to see if he was enjoying it as much as I was. What I saw was that he already had finished his glass and had turned it upside down on the table.  He then looked up at me and asked if I had any more of this “Kool Aid”, because he was thirsty.  I was devastated. 

Well the Tavel didn’t work but we were going to have pork loin seasoned with garlic and rosemary for dinner.  It would be a great meal made even better by pairing it with a glass of Pinot Noir.  But if I was going to see any change in Guido’s relationship with wine it couldn’t be just any Pinot Noir, I felt I needed to pull out one of the big guns.  I decided on a $95 bottle of Kosta Browne that I had been saving for a special occasion.  Surely that would do the trick!  I put the Riedel Burgundy glass next to his plate of pork loin, brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes.   I then poured him about a quarter glass and waited for him to give it a taste.  He gave it a gulp, and then finished the glass with a second gulp.  He then grabbed the bottle poured another half a glass, grabbed a 7-Up out of the refrigerator and filled the rest of  his glass with the 7-Up, looked up at me and said “Do they still make wine coolers?”.  I almost started to cry. 

This experience in addition to reinforcing the fact that you need to love the family that you have not the family that you want, taught me that it can get expensive to share your wine with people that want to drink wine but have no interest in tasting it. Each one of the bottles in my collection holds a special place in my heart and when the day comes for it to be opened,  I want it to be enjoyed and appreciated not guzzled.  Because of that I always stock a few bottles of “Guido” wines.  “Guido” wines are dirt cheap but drinkable wines that won’t set me back a fortune if my house guest prefers to gulp, swig, or use their wine as a mixer.  There are probably hundreds of acceptable “Guido” wines out there but topping my list are :

La Ferme Julian Rose (Vintoux-Rhone) - $6.00

Mendoza Station Torontes  ( Mendoza-Argentina) - $6.00

Malee Point Shiraz (South Eastern Australia) - $7.00

Ravenswood Vintners Zinfandel - $6.00

So if you too have a cousin like I do, and you have a wine collection that you treasure, make sure that you have some “Guido” wines on hand and save your treasured wine for those that will appreciate it.