Tonight's conundrum:
Attend the beer tasting at the liquor store a half mile away (which will
make my son happy) or attend the Sauvignon Blanc tasting two miles away (which
will make me happy).
What to do, what to do?
The answer is simple.
Attend them both.
The first tasting is from a small brewery in Nashua, New
Hampshire, Agner & Wolf. Surprisingly
enough for someone like me who dislikes most craft beers, I discover that I
like the taste of all four beers, not just the lighter wheat beer, Hefeweizen. The Marzen, an amber-colored Octoberfestbier,
and the malty, dark brew Schwarzbier are both palatable. There doesn't seem to be any lingering nor
overpowering grain flavor nor aftertaste like some craft beers possess.
My youngest, weeks into being twenty-one, decides he likes
the Altbier best, a brew that is marketed as more hoppy and bitter than typical
German beers. I buy him a hefty bottle
of the Altbier, which he puts in the fridge when we get home so he can drink it
during Saturday's Arsenal soccer game.
Yes, as much as one British soccer coach tried to convince him that
Manchester United is the team to cheer for, another British soccer coach turned
him onto the rival team.
The second tasting is a blind tasting, meaning all of the
bottles of Sauvignon Blanc are wrapped in paper bags so we cannot be swayed by
any information such as region of country of origin. There are eight wines, and we start from
lightest to most robust. At one point I
bring my glass to my nose and smell … cheddar.
Suddenly my son leans over and says to me quietly,
"This one smells like cheese."
"I know, right?"
His first wine tasting, and already he can pick up on such things.
A few sips and wine samples later, we both agree that one of
the sauvs would go really well with steak.
Several people who have not been privy to our conversation make an
identical statement. The Sauvignon Blancs are interesting but none strikes me
as particularly buy-worthy, even if one wants a steak to go with it.
In the end, we manage to fit two tastings into a tiny window
of opportunity, and we shop conservatively, both excellent lessons to teach a
newly legal drinker. Best of all, we
shop wisely and with a purpose, not just a knee-jerk reaction to having
something placed in front of us.
I feel like the wise elders in that old television show Kung Fu.
"You are free to go now, Grasshopper. I have taught you
all."
