Do you remember the first moment you realized that a glass of wine could be so much more than a simple splash of refreshment?

For me, I can remember that moment as if it was yesterday. The year was 1988. I was working as a commercial real estate broker in the metro Boston area. I was several months into my first apartment in the city, a dumpy four bedroom suite that would normally have been home to a bunch of B.U. co-eds. My roommates and I, all no more than a couple years out of college, watched a lot of Celtics basketball, cooked a lot of mac & cheese and drank a lot of beer. I was on a beer run to pick up a case of brew for another night of watching hoops with Bird, McHale and Parrish when I was bitten by the bug.

“Would you like to taste some Burgundy?” was the question that the gentleman asked me, raising a glass in my direction as I walked down the aisle toward the beer cooler at the back of the store. I hadn’t even really noticed the crowd of folks standing around the table, whom I would eventually get to know as regulars at these Saturday afternoon tasting soirees. What the heck? Why not? Free wine…. Burgundy no less….. this is from France, right? But these are white wines…. I thought Burgundy was a red wine? This one says Chassagne-Montrachet and this other Puligny-Montrachet… what is the difference between the two? How about the difference between all of these other wines labeled Puligny-Montrachet? They all taste really delicious, kind of similar but different….why is that? Yes, it does taste kind of buttery… how do they do that? I didn’t even feel the hook being set.

In between the rush of questions about exactly what I was tasting, I found myself being drawn into the conversations of the other folks tasting with me that afternoon. You will sometimes hear of wine being referred to as a “social lubricant”…. this is absolutely correct. There were the two investment banker types who were debating the merits of Remoissenet as a Burgundy negotiator or something like that. One guy said he preferred Latour, but I could tell he didn’t know what he was talking about. Even I knew that Latour was a Bordeaux. There were the three college professors who were weighing the impact of late August rains on the physical maturity of the grapes and alcohol and glycerin levels. Glycerin? Isn’t that what they use in car batteries? Another couple ( who had actually brought their own wine glasses!!) spoke of weekend trips to Beaune while they were studying abroad in Paris, bicycling among the vineyards during the day and hanging out nights at the Pickwick Pub. Really? They have a British pub in Burgundy? A mixed cheese tray was being manned by a women who I soon learned to be a retired restauranteur and colleague of Julia Child. It would be another few months before I would be prepared to deal with the culinary subject matter at that end of the table. All I cared about that afternoon was how much more I seemed to enjoy my cheese with that glass of wine in my hand. Who would have guessed that there were so many ways to enjoy a glass of wine?

In one afternoon, I had been introduced to no less then a half a dozen different dimensions, and in the years ahead many others would follow.

That evening, my roommates and I enjoyed another Celtics victory while scoffing down mac and cheese tuna noodle surprise with a bottle of 1986 Remoissenet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “Les Folatieries”. Larry Bird lit up the court with a triple double, and damn if that bottle of Burgundy didn’t make that glorified tuna noodle casserole actually taste pretty good. For me, it all started right there.

Tell us about your “first time”. It is great to hear how others have found their way to a greater level of appreciation for a glass of wine. Please do share.

Best Regards,
John Hafferty
Bin Ends
Great Wine~Serious Savings