My wine journey so far! (this may be considered the “rambling of an idiot”, “rambling of a savant” or “rambling of someone who is bored and doesn’t realize he types all day already”. Either way, thank you for reading or I’m sorry to waste your time. Pick one.)

Warning, this post adds nothing to society at all, it may make r/wine slightly better or worse, I'll let history judge.

Backstory: I've been drinking wine since about 3 years after graduating college. Think around 2003. THEN, I read a very basic intro book into wine. I was happy drinking what I enjoyed (there is nothing wrong with this, life's short, enjoy what you want to. My "But moment" below), it was mass market rose, riesling, merlot, chardonnay etc.

Tangent warning: Funny side story, long ago I mention I'm going to the store to get some chardonnay, my future father-in-law says, "look for "shaablee", it's higher quality than what you usually get." My reaction as I'm driving away, "WTF, I never heard of a "shaablee" grape."

BUT (here's the "but moment" obviously), at some point years later, I grabbed a bottle that looked interesting. And things changed. I have to say "Thank you Cline Cellars" for making me realize I was missing the big picture. And I mean this more than can be expressed in a reddit post.
Cline's Old Vine Zin and then next Ancient Vine Zin were/are amazing (I still buy them today regularly) and made me aware of the fact that what I enjoyed could be much more interesting and variable than what was my go-to at the time.

I decided to dig in deeper. It ended up being MUCH deeper. I have read so many books on wine. (I love reading so this was fun, not a chore) I love that the authors of all the wine books all say the same thing while saying nothing the same. That has been my experience too!

So, I dug deeper and deeper and deeper.

Where I stand now.

I'm a by the numbers guy, so I decided to organize my efforts and do a deep dive that made sense. Obviously I started in France and California. I started in Bordeaux and Napa. Burgandy and OR/WA next, followed by the Rhone and gamay producers next and so forth.

MY FINDINGS SO FAR (Emphasis on MY):
I love the heavy wines. The Bordeaux blends are sooooooo good with a history I can dig into (Did I mention I love history too? @Dan Carlin, you need to do a series on wine), the CA Cabs are great and are the Mike Tyson of "Heavyweight wines". But, I really, really love the blends that are heavy but smooth. Think higher percent in Cab Franc and/or merlot (they are heavy, BUT SMOOTH they float like a butterfly and sting like a……….well they don't sting but are light on their feet and last the full 9 rounds, think Muhammad Ali. Where did I get all these boxing allegories from? I don't even watch boxing. Rocky is as close as I come to real boxing).

The gamays were next. Still digging here, but I think I may end up here for French wines (Beaujolais waiting to be tagged in). Cheaper to find than Bordeaux and very available wherever you go.

Ports (yeah, not from France or CA, but I go where I want, I'm the OP OP!!!), great for sipping while relaxing (defined by reading a book or watching a movie for me). But DON'T underestimate them, they are fortified. Ruby for me, I guess there is still some 2003 The_Man_in_Black_19 hanging around.

I may get booted from r/wine for this, but pinot noir is just "meh" at best to me. Too thin, too acidic and I'm not joining a cult just to drink wine with my dinner. Calm down, calm down. I know, heresy makes people mad. But if I'm not buying it, it's (very, very, very, very) slightly cheaper for you!

Next up for me, Eastern US, Eastern European and Western Asian wines. (My Cellartracker.com profile's favorite wine region says: "I'm a happy wanderer!") So far I stockpiled a, granted small, sampling of wines from PA, NY, VA, Georgia (Republic of, not State of), Greece (F off Travolta, not that Grease), Hungary, Slovenia, Armenia and Lebanon. What am I missing here? Looking forward to varietals of grapes that only grow in small regions of the world. I'm really fascinated by the sheer idea of Ice Wines (NY Finger Lakes ice wine already purchased). I can't wait.

Side notes, I'm not into bubbles, I'm skipping Champagne and sparkling. Sorry in advance. Orange wines as a concept fasciante me. After I try a few, I may dive even deeper. (only have 1 in the cellar so far, Georgian.)

Again, thank you for reading or I'm sorry to waste your time. Pick one.

MIB19