Now is the time to find your wine drinking soulmate!
Wine drinking Soulmate?
Not clear, huh?
Wine is one of these things that is often better when shared.
The right company can absolutely add to your experience. On the other hand, the wrong company can seriously ruin it!
A soulmate sounds like there is just one out there. That’s never the case. You can have a bunch of soulmates. In fact, just think of it as a drinking buddy, but with wine.
It can be a whole group, too. A whole crew! Your tribe. Your peeps.
The wine fans that follow this blog are my people. We just don’t all drink together in real life. YET!
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Finding your person or people really makes the experience so much more enjoyable!
Your soulmate adjacent doesn’t need to like the same wines that you do. You just need to mesh in your attitude toward wine. You are looking for really compatible.
You do not want to roll your eyes at the other person’s views on wine.
Yep, just like this!
I do love a good eye roll. BUT…eye-rolling is not wine drinking soulmate material!
You may ask, how do I find this person if I don’t already have one? How do I find a whole crew if I want one?
I am so glad you asked!
Here are some fun scenarios and questions to see where someone lands on the compatibility scale:
Read my response, decide what yours would be, and think what your wine drinking soulmate would or should say. Even better would be to have them decide for themselves.
1) Someone offers you a glass of White Zinfandel. What is your response?
I saw this question online as a response to “How do you find out if someone is an oenophile.” No one really uses that term. It usually has snobby connotations.
However, I laughed out loud. It really is a litmus test of where you are in the wine compatibility scale!
There is nothing wrong with White Zinfandel. It is sweet. Way more people like sweet wine than you would think.
I do think it has ruined rosé wines for many people who think all of them are sweet.
My response would be, “do you have anything else? There may be more delicious options.” I would not look down on their choice, though.
Your response would be…..?
Your wine drinking soulmate’s response….?
2) You just poured a guest a fantastic and rather pricey glass of white wine. They ask if you have seltzer because they prefer a wine spritzer. Your response? Ice cube in a glass of champagne? Same response?
This really happened to me when I was younger. It was my fault that I poured this wine for someone who really didn’t like wine. A total compatibility mismatch. I offered her a less expensive wine.
There is nothing wrong with a wine spritzer, but I would use inexpensive wine. There are actually cans of wine spritzers that are quite good.
As for an ice cube in champagne or any wine, I wouldn’t do it. I understand Martha Stewart does.
My response would be: “WHY?!? You lose all flavor if the wine is too cold!”
Your response…
Your wine drinking soulmate’s response….?
3) You are at a wine store and a winemaker is visiting. He starts talking all about the wine making process. Do you stay and listen or avoid a boring conversation?
Not everyone wants to hear the nuts and bolts of wine making. I have been to wine tasting dinners where the people attending don’t want to listen to the winemaker.
Winemakers assume you are as into it as they are. You don’t want to be rude at a dinner. At a wine store, though? You didn’t sign up for this.
If you want to walk out, but your wine buddy insists on staying you may have a mismatch.
If I was in the mood, I would stay. If not, I’m out of there.
You would…
Your wine drinking soulmate would…
4) You are served a glass of wine at someone’s home and you hate it. What do you do?
Obviously, this would depend on how well I know this person. Unfortunately, I make a face if I hate a wine. It’s like flinching. If I can hide that I hate it, I will just not drink it.
However, if I know the person really well, I may handle it differently. I once was at a seder at someone’s house. They only served really sweet kosher wine (cue making a face here!). I had brought a really delicious kosher wine (in my opinion). Since drinking kosher wine is part of the seder, I asked if they could open what I brought. I do not think I would have done this in any other circumstance.
Basically, I would just not drink the wine. There is a time and a place for educating people on wine, but this probably is not it. Also, just because I don’t like the wine doesn’t mean it isn’t perfectly tasty for others.
You would…
Your wine drinking soulmate would…
5) You are at a free wine tasting and the person next to you asks the wine salesperson if the wine is from pre-phylloxera vines. Thoughts?
Just in case you don’t know, Phylloxera is an aphid-like insect that destroyed most of Europe's vineyards in the mid-1800s, which changed the wine industry forever. There are very few pre-phylloxera vines, and there is probably no taste difference.
I totally rolled my eyes about this question! Who cares? Well, clearly this person did or was trying to act like he did. Maybe he studies bugs.
The wine was not from pre-phylloxera wines in case you, too, were interested. By the way, my eye roll was not obvious to the person who asked this question. I have to say that in my many, many years of wine tasting, I had never ever heard this question.
Your thoughts…
Your wine drinking soulmate’s thoughts…
6) There is a paid tasting at a very well respected winery. It’s a small group of people. One person announces they have brought their own wine glasses. Brilliant idea?
This is a true story! I was not there but was told the story by the winemaker.
WOW! The arrogance to assume you know more than the winemaker is off the charts.
Many people feel the shape of the glass is paramount, but I do assume that the winemaker knows what they are doing. They are trying to sell the wine so I would think they would use the best glassware to showcases their wines.
Maybe you disagree. Your thoughts…
Your wine drinking soulmate’s thoughts…
7) You are at an informal Champagne tasting and someone comments that they prefer Prosecco. Do you agree or disagree with them?
Champagne and Prosecco are not the same! They are different grapes, made in different areas, using different methods. Also, all Champagnes don’t taste the same. The same is true of Prosecco!
I actually did point that out to the person who said this. Sometimes I just need to jump in and educate. I even wrote a blog post on this.
Your thoughts…
Your wine drinking soulmate’s thoughts…
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8) A friend chooses wines based on what famous person endorsed it. Do you say anything?
How close is this friend? If you are close enough to be honest, I would say “Don’t be a lemming! A blind follower!”
If they are not close enough to be honest, maybe you could ask them why they think the famous person has the same taste they do. Regardless, I would definitely feel like I had to say something.
If a famous person is pushing this wine, it is almost certainly overpriced. Choosing a wine based on a cute label may be a better choice. It’s probably a better value too!
Would you say something…
Would your wine drinking soulmate….
9) You don’t like a particular wine, but you are told that it has insanely high scores from the wine critics. What do you do or say?
Wow! I have opinions on this!
I was writing a post about it and thought of these titles:
The Truth about Wine Ratings: Do not waste your time!
Another one was: I hate wine ratings and you should too!
Then there was Spotlight on Wine Ratings: You are seriously wasting your time!
I ended up including it in my Don’t be a Lemming post.
I want people to be empowered to choose the best wines for them! I would totally say something!
What would you have done or said…
What would your wine drinking soulmate have done or said…
10) You are at a restaurant with people who believe that more expensive wines are better wines. Do you say anything?
The most important question is “Who is paying?” If someone else is paying, their belief system is up to them. I do not agree at all that expensive wines are better wines.
However, there is a time and a place to educate them. I’m not sure a restaurant is the place to do it. They definitely should read my post on Top 4 things you should know about the cost of your wine. Just not during dinner.
If we are splitting the bill, I would absolutely speak up! No way do I want to overpay because they are so woefully misinformed. (Well, that got ugly fast!)
Would you have said anything…
Would you wine drinking soulmate have said anything…
Clearly, I have a lot of opinions on these topics. It is why I have a wine blog.
They don’t have to be your opinions. My goal is for people to have more fun with wine! I want to empower them to be able to choose more wines they like without overthinking or or overpaying.
You may have a group that you relax and just drink wine with. You may have another that you analyze wines with.
Finding your people is not about perfect agreement. It is about shared enjoyment and respect. No eye-rolling at the very least.
Here’s to finding your wine drinking soulmate! Your buddy! Your crew!
Have fun with it!
EXACTLY!!
