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A few pictures of the 2001 Boston Wine Expo with friends Allen Clark and Shields Flynn: (click any photo to enlarge)

Me - sniffing, swirling and tasting great wines!	My buds Allen & Shields	My favorite: Penfold's wines.	Omigosh, a full bottle... is anyone looking??...
Allen keeping notes	It's a tough job but...	Shields & Frances drinking dinner at my house. ;-)	Uh...which glass is mine??

From Embarressment to an Embarressment of Riches (my personal story about getting into wine):

In the mid-1980's I happened to take a business client out to dinner in Boston. Chuck was from California and had a lot of experience with wine, while I had none, so when the waiter brought out the wine list I passed it to Chuck. He chose a bottle of French red (Bordeaux-shaped bottle), and while it was good, I was focused on business and so did not pay attention to the wine other than to wash my food down with it. When that bottle was done, Chuck ordered another of the same, since we had enjoyed the first.

When the check for dinner was delivered to me, I had a heart attack upon discovering that the wine cost $110 per bottle! I envisioned, and then lived through, a really exciting conversation with my boss when I turned in the expense report for this dinner!! Determined not to be surprised again, I decided that I would learn something about wine (like, aren't there less expensive bottles that are good??).

The following summer I was vacationing with my family in the California seacoast town of Aptos, just south of Santa Cruz. While there I went to a local wine shop and struck up a conversation with the store owner, who had quite an extensive variety of wines, including many reds from around the world. I requested a recommendation on a good book about wine, but I was in for a different education.

He told me that, while he could sell me a book or two, if I really wanted to learn about wine then the best course of action was to taste wine. He therefore recommended I should buy a dozen different red wines from a single country, and open these wines and taste them, writing down my impressions of each wine. He also suggested that I open at least two bottles together at a time so that I was actually comparing wines rather than trying to interpret them in isolation.

It sounded to me that he just wanted to sell me a lot of wine, but the wine books that I had perused in store said the same thing: there is no replacement for tasting wine. The store owner went on to say that once I felt I knew the difference between grape varietals (e.g., cabernet, merlot, pinot noir, zinfandel, etc.), then I should compare the same grape varietal but from different countries and regions, to understand the effect of climate and terroir.

So I took the plunge: I followed his advice and bought two cases of mixed red wines and brought them back to the beach house to share with my vacationing relatives, and I began to keep notes.

Well, that was over 20 years and thousands of incredible wines ago, and that store owner's advice was the real deal: it launched an interest that has taken me all over the world and into the company of many, many new friends who also appreciate fine wine. I find that I can now recognize grape varietals, country and in some cases discreet wineries without referring to the label on the bottle (called "blind tasting"). And that picture above is of me, in one corner of my custom-built (by me), temp-controlled cellar, surrounded by a few thousand of my "finds" from over the years.

I now belong to several different groups around the country that taste wine from time-to-time as an excuse to get together and share great food and companionship. My best friend from high school (over 30 years) is now big into wine collecting, and I have the pleasure of introducing as many friends as possible to my cellar and this delicious hobby.

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