Panini and Wine

Sometime in the past 7ish months I started referring to this as “The Great Panini” rather than a pandemic. It was a purposeful change to help get out from under the mental weight that comes with the word pandemic, and it actually helped a bit. I could talk about the choices we were making and changes that were happening in the work and social environment without the same level of dread.

As I had mentioned in Wine Beginnings-Part 4, the start of the panini had delayed my certification exam by about 6 months. I didn’t study much in those first few months of stay-at-home, and although we did indeed drink plenty of wine during that time, I did not feel as compelled to think or talk about it very much. We quickly settled into comfort wines along with our no shoes and comfy clothes. My husband, in particular, developed a deep attachment to Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay and Côtes du Rhône reds, and I happily joined him in those. The most cerebral we got in early summer 2020 was to taste and rate the rosé wines we were picking up curbside.

Normally I go to at least one big rosé tasting hosted by a favorite local shop, and that’s where the seeds of our rosé collection for the year get planted. Between no tastings and no chance to wander the aisles and shelves of all of our favorite places, we had to resort to curbside pickup at one of the large chain shops. (We were still buying smaller amounts of “the good stuff” and getting our wine club selections, but we also needed some cheap-and-cheerful pink to get us through) I would scroll through the website and look for the key things we enjoy – Southern French (Rhône and Provence) for me, and Oregon Pinot Noir for Roman. We wanted to stay well south of $20 per bottle, but also did not want to dwell too close to $9.99 (I’ll write more about how we came to our PWPP [personal wine price point] later). We picked up 12 options to start, and set up a 1 – 5 rating system (5 being best). It worked well for us, even if we tried to be too kind to one truly awful wine that we had to dump, and we were able to agree on enough 3 and up wines that were affordable to keep us going.

As summer wore on, I found myself actually looking forward to studying again, and realized how much I missed interacting with folks about wine. We did a few virtual tastings with local restaurants, and really loved it when our local wine club started offering tasting pours in freeze-pop tubes. It was the perfect amount to taste without having to immediately break into our bottles, and knowing that most of the other people on the other side of the screen were drinking the same thing at the same time made it feel more connected.

Midsummer also saw me make the leap and start a wine group on Facebook (Wine Thoughts) so I could start flexing my writing muscles. Shortly after, Roman asked if I would like to host a virtual tasting for my birthday at the end of August and I was thrilled. It was such a great excuse to order and compare wines, knowing only a little about most of what my friends/membership liked, and we did tasters (copying the freeze-pop tubes!) for the local people while sharing selections early for those who would have to order for themselves. Despite my nerves, I loved it. I loved the conversations, I loved the questions, and I loved sharing the wines. I even loved hearing about what else people had found to drink that day. Of course, day-job and studying took focus after that, but I managed a Cabernet Sauvignon tasting in December 2020, and I am currently pulling together my notes for a rosé tasting later this month (including a 4+ selection from last summer!).

Now that we are both vaccinated and the case rates are holding in the very-low range for our area, we have been starting to get out to our favorite haunts. It’s great seeing faces and lists I have missed, and unbelievably freeing to be able to order a glass of wine that I know my dining companion wouldn’t care for. It also means that I have a little more brain space to work on writing again, and I am glad to have this space to do it.