Diary of a Blind Date with a Wine Snob

Monday

I just got a call from my friend Karen asking me if I was interested in meeting her neighbor, Dave. Well, she actually didn’t ‘ask’ me – she ‘told’ me I was going to meet him. Karen knows that since the divorce I have been very hesitate to get back into the dating scene. Things have changed so much since I was single. On a typical Saturday night I usually fall back to cozying up with my comforter and a good book. But not this Saturday night. Per Karen’s firm instructions, I will be meeting Dave at the corner restaurant, Saturday evening, at 8 p.m. sharp. Then she casually mentioned, that I should we warned. He is a wine snob.

Great. I know NOTHING about wine. I am one of those people that when I have to buy a bottle of wine, I pick out the bottle with the prettiest label and the lowest price tag. I am sure this will really impress a wine snob. Saturday evening is doomed before it ever gets started.

Tuesday

I have a plan. I have all week to learn about wine. I have made a list of the top 10 most popular wines, I will research two a day and by Saturday I should able to carry on a reasonably intelligent conversation about wine. I’ve got this. I think I might even go buy a new dress for the event.

Wednesday

The research is going well. Four wines down, six to go. Wish I could say things are going as well shopping for a new dress.

Thursday

Two more wines scratched off my list. But, Karen called and said instead of meeting Dave Saturday night, she is having a last minute get together at her house Friday evening. Dave will be there so I need to be there as well. At least I will be around some people I know. But, there is some good news and there is some bad news about this latest change in plans.

Bad news – this gives me one less day of wine research. Good news – I found the perfect new dress.

Friday (Actually early Saturday AM)

It is over. I got to meet Dave. He is tall, very handsome, and confirmed as a wine snob. When we met, we chatted for a bit and them he asked if I wanted a glass of wine. He just happened to bring a bottle of his favorite wine and wanted to share it with me to see what I thought of it. He handed me a glass of Merlot. Merlot happened to be the next one on my research list that got cut short when the date was moved up. I figured it was all over now. He will know I am a wine connoisseur fraud and he will never want to see me again.

He could tell by the panicked look on my face that something was wrong. So I just spilled it all out. I told him I did not know anything about wines, about how I select wine by the pretty label, my little study program, Merlot next on the list – the whole thing.

He smiled and then starting laughing. He thought it was really sweet that I would go to all that trouble to impress him. Then he said something remarkable. He said he likes to teach people about wine and he was thrilled to have a new student. If I was interested, he would tell me all about Merlot tonight and then we could tackle another one tomorrow night. It turned out to be a wonderful evening.

So as a new student of wine, I learned two important things tonight.

Number 1 Merlot (mer-loh) – French for little blackbird. The Merlot wine is a dry, medium to full-bodied wine with a range of flavors from herbs, blackberries, black cherries, plums, and cocoa. When aged in oak it can also be layered with hints of clove, vanilla, and cedar. Not too bad for a first lesson.

Number 2 Yes, Dave is a wine snob, but he just may end up being MY wine snob. Maybe this dating stuff isn’t so bad after all.