Not enjoying wine at the moment.

WINE TALK
41

I’ve never practiced meditation, per se, but walking or running without music is probably similar.

-Al

42

Unfortunately, Howard, I firmly believe exactly the opposite…

43

I’ve found that wine is something I enjoy much more when I’m feeling happy, when it feels like a reward. It doesn’t have the power to transmute unhappiness to happiness, at least for me…

Respectfully, Rudi, who would you prefer to be right? You or Howard?

44

Between being laid off and the total lack of job opportunities for me right now and the overall depressing state of the world, it would be a very dark time without wine. And exercise. Exercise gets me out of bed in the morning, or keeps me from sleeping away the afternoon. I never wear headphones while exercising, even pre COVID – it’s my time to let my mind drift.

As for wine, my husband and I have a routine of discussing dinner first thing in the morning, including what we want to drink. At 3PM, someone pulls the bottles and does whatever needs doing temperature-wise. At 4 or so we start cooking and open the first bottle for a glass during prep. We eat early and usually end up opening a second bottle at some point. It generally gets finished, too. It’s such a relaxing, calming, and comforting routine. I’m fortunate that the person I most love to drink wine with is my partner. I know we’re drinking more than usual, and maybe we’ll decide to cut back at some point, but for right now, it gives much needed shape and joy to the day, and means there’s always something to look forward to.

45

Really guys? Robert comes to share some of his personal side about wine and his challenges with enjoyment and you have to bring this back to politics. Out of respect for Robert and some others of us, just leave this stuff out of the thread.

46

Makes me feel better about my routine…when I had to commute to and from the office (as opposed to my current work-from-home environment), there was no way I could consider opening a bottle until sometime around 6:00-6:30…and I typically went to sleep about an hour earlier (to wake up earlier for the commute to work). Thus, my “potential drinking window” was limited on both sides. Now, I typically have a bottle open by 4pm, and my consumption pattern seems very similar to yours.

47

Robert,
Thanks for posting and hope you do whatever it takes to address your current struggles. I’m also glad that you are highlighting that clinical depression is a different beast that usually can’t be addressed with only a rationalist view (e.g. things could be worse; we’re relatively lucky; it’ll be ok if I just turn off the news, etc.). We all need to make sure that our loved ones (and ourselves) seek help when needed, and that it’s not a failure when self-care and encouragement alone aren’t enough.

Thank you also to the other posters on this thread. It’s nice to have community, especially at this time!
Regards,
Peter

48

I hope that we are both around to argue about it in the year 2100. Then, you can buy me a bottle of Burgundy when I am right. [cheers.gif]

49

A friend who suffers severe depression breaks it down to two parts: mental and physical depression. She’s a person who researches deeply and is very introspective, so wherever she found this perspective, it suits her well. She’s on meds that work well, and are absolutely necessary for her, but they aren’t perfect. There’s a lapse for whatever reasons, now and then. It’s when she suffers both physical and mental depression that she’s gone into a tailspin. She’s in tune with her body enough that she can immediately recognize a lapse on the physical side. Martial arts are her most regular activity, of which she practices several. The mental engagement and personal enjoyment of learning and improving skills keeps her going.

50

I’ve been there for quite a few months when the lean wines don’t do much and the big ones seem OTT so I’ll grab a high end Zinfandel and recalibrate. Seems to work for me.

51

I have issues of losing my sense of taste periodically because of allergies and find some of my favorite wines suck in high humidity. But, like Robert I had issues a couple weeks ago. Some of my favorite wines just made me feel bad, heavy and uncomfortable. They were not enjoyable. After three successive incidents I decided to move to a different, lower alcohol, lighter group of wines, (Pinot and Cab to Rose and SB). It worked, (for me). Not a big Rose fan but trying new and different Roses seemed to revitalize my enjoyment of wine and appreciation of other varietals I had spent little time with before. It also altered our diet some, tailoring food to the wines. Drinking a 2019 Chateau L’eoube Rose now. It’s delicious. I don’t think I could consider depression as the cause for me. More likely sensory and mental palate fatigue due to repetitive/monotonous choices in wine profiles.

52

2020 La Tâche. Promise! [cheers.gif]