Last night, my wife and I threw an Oscar party, as we have done in the past. While cleaning the 16 wine glasses dirtied by the wine-drinking element of a group of 12 people (as not everyone partook), I realized just how much I like my friends, and how much my friends like wine.
Just like the movies.
Most of the time, wine still feels like a foreign element in the United States. Even as stories come out heralding a new golden age of wine in the U.S., this still feels like a beer nation. Not that there is anything wrong with beer, of course.
But last night’s little shindig showed me why wine is so perfect for so many occasions. We started off with a champagne cocktail (made, admittedly, not with Champagne but with a sparkling white from Washington State) made with blood orange and sweet vermouth, drank some more bubbly, and as the night truly kicked off and we laughed along with Seth MacFarlane (who was brilliant, by the way, don’t listen to the H8ERZ) we opened bottle after bottle of red.
Merlot, cab, pinot, more merlot… most of it from California, though not exclusively. Later in the evening as people were looking for a switch up, we opened a bottle of chardonnay and another of bubbly, and a raucous good time was had by all.
What does all this have to do with the Oscars? Besides being a lame attempt to be topical, I think it’s this: wine, like the movies, affords us outlet for, and pairs with, all kinds of emotions and moods. There are movies for when we’re down, and wine for when we’re somber (though a discussion about drinking alcohol while depressed would be a whole other matter—generally, don’t do that, I think would be safe advice); there are movies we celebrate and that celebrate us, and there is wine for those celebratory moments as well.
Last night, wine paired perfectly as the drink of choice at our Oscars party. Not that I’m surprised by this, but every once in a while, it’s good to be reminded.