Emery Davis wrote in
:

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 23:53:16 GMT, Fred said:

] "Rich R" wrote in
] . com:
]
] This subject has been beat up. My wine orientation: I admire guys
] that can just taste. Not me. I need some goat cheese and some
] Sancerre. I will be always hedonis tic.
]
] Had an "aha" today. I realized that I choose wine for the meal I am
] hungry for. Never the other way around. I would like to enjoy wine
] on the merits of the wine itself, but can never do that without of
] context of food.
]
] You are not a true wine nut yet. People that are enthusiastic about
] wine would not think of picking up a restaurant menu without first
] looking at the wine list. If a meal has been chosen i.e. "Honey we're
] having X for dinner." picking a wine to go with the meal is allowed.
] When asked about food, like in a restaurant or planning a dinner
] party, if you have to ask if the wine or food should be chosen first,
] you are not a true wine lover. As your palate becomes more educated,
] you will think to yourself "What food goes with this wine?" rather
] than "What wine goes with this food?"
]

Fred, I think you're being a bit patronizing. For all you know, Rich
may have a superior palate, years of experience, and a vertical of
Yquem back to '29.

I'm with Rich on this one, I seldom drink wine without food. And yet
by any definition I am "enthusiastic about wine."

Like the other respondants I usually pick the wine to match the food,
because there's usually a larger choice than on the menu or at market
(the really fresh ingredients, I mean). Only for really special
bottles do I go the other way, e.g. something I've had in the cellar
for 20 years.

My post was meant to be patronizing. That should be taken with a large
amount of NaCl. I was trying to indicate that as wine grows in importance
it will outstrip food and the food will become secondary. The food is
usually primary at home. A restaurant is another matter. I can see special
bottles as being the focus of a meal. The bottles will be less and less
special to be more important than the food as your obsession with wine
grows. I do not claim to be a master of wine. From what I have read on this
group my knowlege/palate/collection seems to be about average. I understand
obsession from my experience with a lot of people that were obsessed with
something, only a few of them about wine. A few years ago I asked for
submissions to "The Top 10 Signs You are a Wine Nut". Some of the
submissions were the mark of someone that was obsessed with wine. I think
someone said "You pick the food to go with the wine and not vice versa" as
one of the signs you were obsessed with wine. FYI #1 was "You wonder why so
many people hate the French".

Fred.