The Anxious Beginner’s Guide to Wine
Julia Child taught me to drink more wine
Dabbling with intention may get you drunk but that’s to be expected
My critical voice says:
“If I don’t know everything there is to know about wine, I can’t possibly be passionate about it.”
“Wine is so sexy and I’m not sexy.”
“I’m going to look stupid if I say I like wine.”
“My passion is wrong. It’s not enough.”
“I’m so dumb. I can’t even like wine right.”
To which Julia replies:
“Wine is one of the agreeable and essential ingredients of life.” — Julia Child
Dabble with intention
Dabbling means that I allow myself the freedom to follow my curiosity. As I nurture my love of wine, my passion continues to grow and progress.
To nurture my passion for wine is to practice love; as I repeat the enjoyment I feel for my passion by dabbling, I age both in the wisdom of my years and in the experience of living a life that is in line with my desires.
I mustn’t let the task of learning and experiencing my passion be a task. If I follow my joy, I will find intentional ways to explore my passion. My curiosity is gorgeous. I must tell myself that over and over again.
My curiosity is gorgeous.
“As you get older, you shouldn’t waste time drinking bad wine.” — Julia Child
Julia is much more succinct than I. Indeed, dear Julia, I simply must get to drinking wine now so that when I’m older I will know the wine I will and will not waste time drinking. I shall move on.
Daily dabbling
The best ways I have found to grow my fervor for wine are by drinking wine and by connecting to others who love wine.
The easiest way to dabble daily is by asking questions. I ask questions of people who sell wine in restaurants and stores, including wine-loving bartenders and sommeliers if I am fortunate enough to have them within earshot. I also share wine with friends and try their recommendations or I’ll trade a sip from my glass for a sip of theirs if they’re keen.
On drinking more wine
In order to enjoy wine to the max, I must drink more wine.
There are many ways to try different varietals (grape types) and vintages (years) of wine from across the globe. My partner and I have a sort of relationship with wine.com. They know what order and have some idea what we like and so they send recommendations that we are often quite happy with.
Although there are find-your-fav-wine apps, memberships to wine services, and wine-tasting kits and boxes available online that can be delivered to our doorstep, we haven’t tried any of those. In part, because we live in a large city that gives us the opportunity to “fly”.
“Just like becoming an expert in wine — you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford.” — Julia Child
I love to taste, or sample, wine. This is why I love to order and indulge in wine flights. A flight is 3–5 glasses of wine with an ounce or two each. Ordering flights offers me the rare opportunity to try different wines without having to buy a bottle or full glass of each. Fabulously, many flights are the price of a single glass.
It is common for flight menus to be pre-set. For example, it is usually possible to choose between a flight of red wines or a flight of white wines, but the establishment will have chosen from their menu which whites or reds I’ll be tasting. If it is a wine bar or cellar, they may offer a choice of wine themes such as “floral whites”, “mineral whites” or “bubbles” for white wine and “light-bodied”, “fruit-forward” or “old world reds” for red wine.
If the place is super-stocked, I might get to order a flight of the same varietal so I’ll get to choose to try many of one kind of wine. These flights allow me to taste 3–5 different offerings of “Cabernet”, “Malbec”, “Pinot Noir”, “Sauvignon Blanc”, “Chardonnay” or “Rose”.
Establishments that offer flights are worth visiting, but if I go to a bar or restaurant that does not serve flights, they are often willing to sample me a taste or two if they know I am going to buy a glass (or two).
Alternatively, many states in the U.S. have a local city or town that leads the rest in wine culture in their particular state. This city in Texas is called Fredericksburg. I have been twice and much like parallel wine-centric cities in other states, wineries and tasting rooms abound. They LOVE sampling wine and I love to drink it.
“Wine is meant to be with food — that’s the point of it.”— Julia Child
Great point, Julia. I had almost forgotten!
Pair wine with life (and food)
Recently, life allowed my partner and I the grand opportunity to enjoy and grow our passion for wine while dabbling in another, newer flame. During lockdown, we found joy in online cheese classes which were offered with wine pairings, usually a bottle of each white and red. Scardello Artisan Cheese was instrumental in our almost weekly escape from cabin fever.
As we sat on our couch, rapt to our virtual class, the experience gave us a much-needed mental, almost physical break. It was not even close to traveling, but we were ecstatic to be whisked away to the lands the cheese took us. We imagined we vacated — even if just for an hour — to Spain, Italy, France, the Alps, and the East Coast, West Coast, and Mid-western cheese capitols of the United States with every taste.
We didn’t know we were growing our passions in that moment; we were just trying to survive. The void of lockdown threatened to overtake us if we did not look to something lighter, something brighter. It was one of our more successful and also most calorie-laden tries to distract ourselves from the dark days of sheltering in place.
Even though our visceral need for the classes has passed, it is amazing to think that we found a new passion, a new pairing for life. We also found a new way to cope, which is following the activities, flavors, and brightnesses that bring us joy, comfort, and escape.
I reward myself by feeling the full extent of my enjoyment and taking one step, and then another, in the direction of the things that elevate my sense of belonging. Wine does this for me. Every sip makes me feel connected.
May our passions keep us strong in our belief that we can choose the direction of our gaze and may our steps follow that gaze, led by the light of our heart’s flame.
“Life itself is the proper binge.” — Julia Child
Please feel free to check out my profile: Brett Jenae Tomlin. Comment below if we have something in common, if you have anxiety or if you like what you’ve read. Do you have any questions for me?
If you love, love, love my writing and want to shout out, “You get it, anxious girl!” You can contribute to my cookbook collection here.
A Few More Articles for the Anxious Reader
On Comfort Food: Small Roast Chicken with Rustic Herb Butter
On Wine: The Anxious Beginner’s Guide to Wine
On Planning Your Next Getaway: 9 Anxiety-Friendly Amenities of All-Inclusive Travel
On Learning to Let Go: Six Mental Health Benefits of Learning to Play
On Body Image: Summer Body, Part 1
On Coming Out: My Bi Life, Part 1
