Words from Dionysus

Writing a blog about wine was not way up there among the list of things I wanted to do with my spare time. But friendship has to mean something. So when KnoxGourmet posed the question, my answer had to be “Why, I’d love to try that”. I may have spiced up the response a bit more than that, but I must presume this is a family blog.

Let it be said in the simplest of terms: I love wine! Always have and always will. I dread the possibility that some medical professional will someday tell me that I can no longer enjoy wine due to an potentially fatal malady. After all, it’s been researched and reported frequently that wine (in moderation) is actually good for you.

Since this is my blog, I get to write about wine in my own way. Wine is a lot like art, some people love wines that other people hate. I like to think that my palate is that of a very experienced wine drinker. So I won’t be writing about: “White Zinfandel”, MD 20/20, Arbor Mist, etc. I think of that type of wine as “Wine on training wheels”. I will write very little about “jug” wines that are mass-produced with little regard for for subtlety, nuance, depth, complexity, aroma and texture. That’s not to say you shouldn’t enjoy Gallo, Inglenook, or similar wines. After all, people need to start somewhere and Chateau Latour is certainly not a starting point for novice wine wanna-be’s. But to talk about one of those brands is to talk about all of them…they are difficult to distinguish from one another. To say it another way, one is as good as another. They do not age well and need not be decanted or aerated before serving.

What I will do is talk about wines that I find interesting. I will also blog about sources about sources of wines, restaurant wine lists, good values (including brands and prices) and will try to reply to any question(s) submitted to me through the KnoxGourmet website. For the more advanced reader I will suggest how to inventory wine (cellars, coolers, software, etc.). In time I may even post links to other sites of interest.

But most of all I will try to keep this all simple. While I enjoy blind tastings whose purpose is to explore unfamiliar wines, I avoid tastings where people try to identify country, region, grape and vintage. I love tasting where I can drink the wine. I consider tastings where you are expected to spit the wine out as a complete waste of wine. When I spit wine out it’s because it tastes like it was already enjoyed by someone else.

I will try to review and respond to questions quickly. I will post articles at least weekly, but not so often that this becomes a chore. I can only do it as long as it is fun. I’ll probably be drinking wine when I blog, and will even let you know what wine I am enjoying at the moment. So let’s have some fun and learn something together!

If you have any requests for Dionysus send them to the knoxgourmet@yahoo.com until we get a direct email set up.