Meet the Enthusiast

I’m trying to be more open minded. This is a good approach to life in general, but I’m talking specifically about wine.

I read an interesting article recently about Riesling, a wine style I had dismissed completely as being too sweet and too simple, that made me think twice about that wine. Another experience, a wine and food pairing event I organized for work, opened my eyes further through the wonder that is ice wine—specifically King Estate’s Vin Glace. Dessert wines were never my thing, but the experience with that Vin Glace was so strong I wanted to run out and buy the right stemware to further enhance the experience. (I stayed home and had another glass instead.) As I thought about those two experiences I recalled years ago a parings party where a friend brought Chablis. I’m sure I rolled my eyes, but then she paired it with bleu cheese. I was surprised and amazed by the experience. It was the first pairing that really did something different for me.

I don’t live the kind of life that supports organizing food and wine pairings, chasing down very specific Rieslings, and spending a lot of time at the dinner table with dessert wines so I’ve been a little slow to explore these experiences further. The tipping point however, came with a recent tweet from @LisaKBurger who is eating local 3 meals a day for the month of May and is necessarily including local wine. She asked for recommendations. I suggested one I'd tried years ago and enjoyed, Marechal Foch from St. Croix Vineyards. And then I got to thinking, what else is out there locally? Turns out, quite a lot!

And so I’m taking the time to understand our wine region and the ongoing grape breeding work of the University of Minnesota, and (twist my arm) I intend to taste as many local wines as I can.

It may just be the wine talking, but I already feel like a cold climate wine enthusiast!