I have a modest collection and I have started drinking wine more frequently over the last year. However, when drinking at home, whether it is with pizza or a prime grade steak, I have a very hard time bringing myself to open a nicer ($30+) bottle. I find myself drinking wines in the $15-$25 range. My better wines ($30-$100), I want to experience them with friends or family. And I feel part of the wine experience is seeing how others react, what their impressions are, etc. For example, tonight my wife made some killer meatballs and I had a nice selection of cheese. The meatballs would have paired perfectly with a Cote du Py, but I could not bring myself to drink it alone, even though I have 8-10 bottles from 2-3 vintages in my cellar. So I opened a California blend that I know I enjoy and is readily available in the low $20 price point. We (wife and I) will often go out to dinners with 6-8 people, and I often bring 4-5 bottles for everyone to enjoy. I collect no money, but enjoy having a reason to open some good bottles. Is this a weird quirk, or does anyone else do this?
Not weird, or at least not alone. I have a lot of trouble pulling the trigger on bottles and usually it’s because I would like to drink them with specific people for various reasons. When I’m alone I usually open things I have more of or wines I’m worried about.
I also enjoy sharing our better wines with friends and family who appreciate it.
Ian, I do find it weird that you won’t “spoil yourself” at all. It’s great to want to turn your friends & acquaintances on to good wine, but I would never do that to the exclusion of myself.
My wife and I have had numerous bottles of Giacosa and Giacomo Conterno Barolo paired with a simple pizza on a Friday night. We don’t do that all the time, and more often than not my choice of beverage is a simple $20-30 bottle of Chianti, but there are few things in life more enjoyable and educational than watching a bottle of, as just one example, the '98 Conterno Cascina Francia evolve and change over a two or three hour period before & after dinner.
I’m with Bob on that point, Ian. Do both! I love drinking with friends and family, and exposing them to wines of various styles. I really love drinking with my sister, our palates are so closely aligned. But I also love pulling a cork on a great wine and allowing the wine and my enjoyment to be the sole focus. Never feel guilty about enjoying something you have worked hard to earn.
Not weird. My collection is much smaller than most posters on WB…
a little bit of both… saved a bottle for 10
years to drink with a specific person & opened some of my fanciest bottles on a random Tuesday.
I think it’s pretty normal, I do the exact same thing.
Not weird to me. I think nearly all of my “special” bottles have been opened with/for others. Also, if I open them for myself alone, I miss out on talking about them. If I open them up for my wife and I only, I still miss out on talking about them because her interest isn’t that strong, no matter how much she may like it. And I can keep saying, “Damn, this is good.” But she tires of that around the third time.
not weird, but I will also drink a fine bottle alone. One of my top 5 Burgs ever was a 90 Leroy Musigny I drank by myself, the entire bottle over several hours. Well, not entirely alone–I was joined by two angels who arrived near the end of the bottle, hoisted me on their shoulders, and flew me about the room. An epiphany wine.
tell me more about those angels.
I think a lot of enthusiasts are this way. Sometimes joyful experiences are multiplied by sharing them.
I am sure my post was archived on ebob. It was probably about ten years ago.
I’m not sure I’ve ever opened a $30+ wine absolutely alone. But then again I almost exclusively drink socially, if I drink alone it’s a beer or a pour of mezcal. Even then I’m probably outside grilling with my roommate.
Does your wife not count as someone to enjoy a bottle with? I tend to pull more “different”, obscure wines when drinking by myself but will pull anything when my love is imbibing. Life is too short to wait - drink up by yourself, with friends, with family…hell with people you are lukewarm with - brings out the best in people.
Thought maybe there were some special mushrooms paired with that wonderful Burg.
I’ll pop a drinker for a glass or two by myself sometimes, e.g., a glass of cold sauvignon blanc/semillon on a hot summer day or night, a half-bottle of red to go with a TV-watching marathon. But I usually have the good stuff with friends, new or old. I find I enjoy them better with company, and when I look back on the wines I’ve really found memorable, I remember them with the merriment of the occasion: the food, the conversation, the laughter, the place, the music, etc.
Ian - it’s not a weird quirk to want to share bottles. You’re clearly fairly new to this but most people like to share bottles they think are special. That said, what’s special to you may not be what’s special to someone else. I have friends who think Burgundies are wonderful and merit serious contemplation. Others prefer CA Cabs or maybe different wines. None of them are right in an objective way, but they’re all right in their own preferences.
So my advice is to drink what you like when you want to. Life is too short to save every “special” bottle for a “special” occasion. I drink wine every day. Some nights it’s a simple wine, some nights it’s something else. Has nothing at all to do with the day or date, just what seems good at the time. To the degree that wine is improved by sharing with friends and good times, that applies to all wines, not just “special” wines.
That would make you a generous man! There is nothing wrong with sharing your wine with friends and family, I do the same. However, I also enjoy kicking back with an incredible bottle by myself and watching it evolve over a 2-3 hour period.
I’m kind of on the fence here. As Bob and Alan suggest, some of my most memorable bottles have been those that I or one other can sit and watch evolve over several hours. It almost seems like a good bottle can fail to reach its full potential if 4-6 people share it to drink as it never has the chance to transition with air. However, in the setting where 5-8 of us are tasting through a number of bottles this transformation can take place.