I don’t drink wine. I don’t drink beer. I do not drink any liquor.
Because if I do I get hit with a migraine.
Which is not fun.
But my cousin Alice, with whom I practically grew up, is one of the most important wine critics in the known universe. She’s also a fantastic writer, and even though I don’t appreciate fine wine, I do appreciate her books.
Hugely.
Her crystal prose accurately reflects her wit, her strongly held opinions, and her encyclopedic knowledge of wine from (literally) the dirt in which it grows to the casks in which it is stored.
“Today, wine is more favored and consumed that it’s ever been in the United States–and millennials are leading the charge, drinking more wine than any other generation in history. Many have been pulled in by the tractor beam of natural wine–that is, organic or biodynamic wine made with nothing added, and nothing taken away–a movement that has completely rocked the wine industry in recent years. While all of the hippest restaurants and wine bars are touting their natural wine lists, and while more and more consumers are calling for natural wine by name, there is still a lot of confusion about what exactly natural wine is, where to find it, and how to enjoy it. In Natural Wine for the People, James Beard Award-winner Alice Feiring sets the record straight, offering a pithy, accessible guide filled with easy definitions, tips and tricks for sourcing the best wines, whimsical illustrations, a definitive list to the must-know producers and bottlings, and an appendix with the best shops and restaurants specializing in natural wine across the country, making this the must-buy and must-gift wine book of the year.”
To read my cousin’s book my Hamilton Ventura—AKA the Elvis watch—seemed most appropriate. I bought it over 30 years ago. When I wear it in public people frequently do a silent movie double-take and ask about it.
I just finished watching Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit – a great series I thought – but the period is in the 60s. Like Mad Men they did a lot of research and in one part, Beth’s mother is giving her a Bulova watch for her high school graduation.
And I thought now there is a piece of the 60s – Bulova was quite popular. Particularly as gifts. And they seemed to have disappeared.
I was once a very enthusiastic wine drinker but as I’ve gotten older I don’t often drink it now. My longest quest was looking for under rated wines that were inexpensive but I had a bit of a “natural” excursion for awhile.
In the early 1990’s I had the fun of working with my employer’s technical group in Bordeaux. I managed to meet Pascal Delbeck. Despite having developed and patented some equipment, at the time he was passionate about minimizing the handling of the grapes preferring to let gravity do the work as gently as possible.
I lost contact once I left Bordeaux and then in the started drinking less and less wine at the turn of the century but I occasionally still look for him on the Internet. Here are links to a couple articles about him. https://echos-bordeaux.com/focus-on-pascal-delbeck/ and https://www.decanter.com/features/delbeck-day-in-the-life-249171/
(I’ve probably gone way off track on typical comments so please delete if inappropriate.)
The watch is very cool but I still prefer your Hamilton Art Deco watch. I am not a wine drinker. I can name about 4-5 types and tell you if they are red or white, but that’s it. For some reason, wines have never appealed to my palate.