Over a bottle of merlot

It's hard to pick a bottle of wine. It's even harder when presented with countless choices at the superstore.

Maybe you've had the same variety a few times and liked it, but they won't all taste the same. There are too many variables.

Even worse, you might finally find your perfect wine, but, time passes and the vintage (and flavor) both change. I used to drink a California Pinot Noir. At $24, it was a bit splurgy for that point in my life, but it was my safety red. Then one day, it was too sweet for me to bear, a new year.

Or maybe your palate changes. That happens, too. People change.

Maybe you have refined with age and pinpointed the tasting notes that do it for you: cherries and minerality. Many bottles don't even describe their contents beyond alcohol content, grape variety, and region. (I often wonder what they are hiding with their ambiguous labels.) What then?

You could ask the store owner, like I did in a small shop on Taylor Street. He recommended a sweet sparkly rose. Women like this one, he said. I'll pass on the wine and the shop.

Hopefully you can seek recommendations from someone whose taste you trust or who knows your taste. Even so, flavors hit people differently. Taste is beyond personal.

Say you find a few wines that you like, you stock up on them and enjoy a glass a day. That wine becomes a part of you. It affects your biochemistry, you sweat out those subtle notes. It becomes your musk and affects your aura. It better sit right with you and it really better not give you a headache later on.

Or maybe a bottle just stands out to you. You like the label or you feel like drinking the Croatian seaside today. Hey, you don't have it down to a science, and you are already late for your dinner party. Hopefully it tastes alright..

___

Similarly, it's hard to pick a potential life partner. It's especially hard if you are using a dating app in a large city. It feels like you could scroll forever. And what are the labels, the job titles, and the pictures really telling you? What are those brief personal descriptions hiding?

At a certain point, profiles start to look the same, or like slightly different versions of a dozen varietals of bachelor.

___

It's her first time on a dating app in a while and her first ever date off of Bumble.

He stands out, so she goes for it. His was a longer bio than most, and with some typos, but that feels honest somehow.

Airforce Veteran - She usually would have passed based on her preconceived notions of military service, but decides to be open to something different. Different could only be good at this point.

Trainer, very into fitness, but you don't have to be a fitness lady - Health and wellness are important to her, but not her whole life.

They message for a couple of weeks before meeting up on a Saturday afternoon. She is late on purpose. He is later. First dates make her want to puke, but his greeting is reassuring: a solid, smoky, herbaceous hug.

-What would you like to drink?

-Wine

-I'll get it from the bar. What kind would you like?

-Cabernet Sauvignon.

-What?

-Cabernet Sauvignon.

-Sorry, one more time?

-Cabernet Sauvignon.

-I'm sorry, I'm hard of hearing.

-Cabernet Sauvignon.

-One more time. Can you say it into this ear?

They both smile, and she whispers,

-Cabernet Sauvignon.

-Just one more time into the other ear.. to make sure that I got it?

-Cabernet Sauvignon.

The bar is full. It's a big, open place on North Clark Street. He comes back from ordering after about ten minutes.

-They are bringing a bottle of Merlot to the table for us to share. I tried the one you wanted, but it tasted off to me. Is that alright?

-Of course.

A few minutes later a server brings their bottle with small water glasses for the wine. He asks her to try it first.

-Oh wow, yeah.

They both focus on the server's slow pouring and they exhale.

___

Bold

He gets right into it: numerous tours with the special forces, injuries, recovery, war, and service. He wants to get all of this out of the way. It's a bit of a monologue. He tells her later that he knew he was drowning at that moment, but had to keep going. Their neighbor is clearly eavesdropping on their date. She gives the neighbor threatening looks to stop even though she is usually the one to listen in. She has to strain to hear him over the crowded, echoing room. He keeps going.

They exhale again when he is done.

-Now tell me about Brazil..

___

Juicy berries, stone fruit

Now they are laughing: travel stories, facts about peppers, hobbies, roommates, likes/dislikes, Chicago/elsewhere, exes, and family.

___

Complex, tannins

He tells her about the kittens he fostered with a previous roommate and the ballet lessons he took for athletic cross training.

___

Lingering

They try another bar for a few minutes. It's a cash only establishment, so they head east to the beach in Rogers Park. He plays a tiny desk concert on his phone for her (Anderson .Paak) on the way over, and she knows that it is all over for her.

___

Mineral

It's dusk when they arrive at the beach, humid and overcast. She grabs a blanket from her apartment and meets him out front on the sand. The atmosphere is a glowy slate blue.

They climb to the top of a wooden lifeguard stand. The lifeguards went home hours ago, and a crowd is gathering to watch another summer lightning storm out on the lake: electric blue and pink dancing through the grey dome and reflected in a dark, calm lake Michigan.

Of course they kiss. He asks her first. Just a taste, but it sits right.