Overheard in the wine shop . . .

[Reignking]

if I wanted wine I would have to return to Georgia.

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Thank God your punchline wasn't "But it was a Sunday, and Georgia is still has ancient blue laws preventing me from buying wine on Sundays." Whew.

[Joe McConnell]

"Which is better, a Merlot or a Bordeaux?"

So why is that funny? It shows a lack of knowledge sure, but ignorance is not of itself amusing.

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That assertion is the funniest thing I've seen in this thread so far.

[bigbear]

"Which is better, a Merlot or a Bordeaux?"

So why is that funny? It shows a lack of knowledge sure, but ignorance is not of itself amusing.

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That assertion is the funniest thing I've seen in this thread so far.

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Now..... that's not funny.

[Darren72]

An amusing experience I had while working at a specialty wine shop.  The date is December 31, 1999 and the phone rings.  I answer it.  A gentleman asks me, "I have a bottle of Champagne and want to know if it's ready to drink."

"OK sir.  Who is the producer?"

"Ferrer."

"I'm sorry sir, who?"

"Ferrer.  Gloria Ferrer from Sonoma."

"OK - (I am already stifling the urge to giggle because it isn't even real Champagne, however, I realize the label may say Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves and assume he doesn't know it's Sparkling wine.  I proceed)...and what year did you say it was?"

"Um - let me see...It doesn't seem to have a year on it.  It just says Sonoma Brut (rhyme with gut)"

"Alrighty then.  Sir, what day is it?"

"It's New Year's Eve."

"Right.  And is there some other special occasion that you're saving this wine for?  An anniversary, graduation, anything??"

"Well, no, not really."

"And do you think you'll be here for the next milennium to drink it?"

"(giggles) Certainly not!"

"Well given all that, what exactly are you waiting for to drink it?"

"I want it to be at it's peak."

"Sir - it's New Year's of the millennium.  DRINK IT!!!" 

  ARRRGH!!!  I didn't have the heart to tell the poor soul that he was holding on to a bottle of $17.99 sparkling wine as if it were the next coming of the vintage of the century.  This just proves to me that even the most unknowlegeable wine drinker has this ridiculous notion that a bottle must be drunk at some unknowable nanosecond in the space-time continuum.  Wine should produce joy and not anxiety.  This will never cease to amaze and irritate me.  I suppose this makes sommeliers bloody geniuses because they can read the stars and divine when that exact moment might be. 

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I'm a professor. I could laugh at the dumb things that students ask every day. But then I remember that they asked the question because they want to learn. This guy called a wine shop because he had a question about wine. Wouldn't the best response have been to tell him that most wine does not benefit from aging, perhaps give him a two-three sentence explanation of which wine might benefit from aging so he doesn't face the same issue next time?

Edited to add: ok, now that I've gotten further along in this thread, I see that someone else asked the same follow-up question and Katie gave a quite reasonable reply. Er, nevermind.

Edited July 16, 2007 by Darren72 (log)