Friday, July 24, 2009

Are You Passionate About Wine?

I’m passionate about pinot noir. … No I’m not. … I just said that to get your attention.


Call me the curmudgeon of wine related op-ed pieces, but I’m just not passionate about any wine no matter how erotic the experience. Nope: not silky sexy pinots, not racy viogniers fermented in stainless steel tanks, not lusty Barolos, not newly disgorged Champagnes, nor heavenly St. Josephs that are as purple as the Pope’s robe.


Over the years, I’ve heard people say they are passionate about making wine, or are passionate about selling, promoting or writing about wine. Perhaps they mean to say they really, really enjoy wine, but are not literally passionate about wine or the business of wine after all. Perhaps, like me, they save their passionate feelings for subjects with a higher purpose.


It’s not that I don’t enjoy wine or enjoy working in the wine industry — because I truly do — it’s just that I reserve the word “passionate” for more important things: like the love of my life, equal rights for everyone, humane treatment of animals, the environment, or the reality of world peace. Sorry, but feeling passionate about wine is way too dramatic for me.


I just Googled “feel the passion” because I wanted to comment on what I remembered to be a television commercial targeted at people who are passionate about baseball. I saw no such link, but I did scroll down to one titled “Feel the Passion of Nephrology Nursing”. Kidneys aren’t very passionate either, but I can see how someone might be passionate about a healthcare career.


Everyone is entitled to feel passionate about wine or even obsess over it, but I can’t imagine why anyone would admit it. Perhaps such public displays of emotion are code for “Listen to me talk about wine; I really know my stuff”. That maybe so, but I remain committed to saving my passionate feelings for life forms that can reciprocate such sentiment, or about the social responsibility needed to foster meaningful relationships with them.

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