Contrary to my husband’s contention, I am truly not a wine snob and I certainly do not fall into the wine expert category – I had to look up how to spell oenophile. As an aside, for anyone who knows me, the fact that I did not drink alcohol the year I studied in France is incredibly ironic. Like many Baby Boomers who had not experienced wines abroad and didn’t have friends with big budgets, I made my way through Gallo with Mateus, Lancers, and Blue Nun as the fancy stuff. My first overseas assignment to Germany was of course where I learned to appreciate wine and by the time I returned, California was making it’s presence known. My husband, on the other hand, having a similar background as mine was first assigned to Fort Lewis near Seattle. He therefore had greater access to California and Northwest wines as part of his “education”.

I simply learned the “rules” about white, red, and rose in a different environment than he did and while I will agree that those rules have relaxed to the point that many people consider them to be non-existent, there are times when I draw the line. I have no intention of drinking a glass of Zinfandel with fish in a dill sauce, but hubby is welcome to it. I continue to be grateful that restaurants have enough of a variety of wines by the glass to accommodate us. And yes, I am aware that we often wind up paying more for 4 glasses purchased that way than if we bought a bottle, but it’s worth it. And yes, I admit that if I am in the mood for red wine, I will adapt what I order accordingly. I genuinely don’t care how other people approach wine and I’m pretty sure that takes me out of the running to be a “wine snob”.