Quit drinking, but still a wine taster

The smoking thread got me thinking about this. I'd be curious if there have been people you know who quit drinking but not tasting. Let's say you want to change your lifestyle and not drink alcohol, or maybe you develop a medical condition where you can't drink alchohol (e.g. a liver ailment) any more. But you have a cellar full of wine, and still want to taste wine. Or maybe you're a profession wine critic. So you become a spitter. It sounds really weird, thinking about going thru a bottle of great wine and spitting it all out. Thoughts?

Bryan

That same thought's occurred to me, but I've never known anyone who did that. I'll be curious to hear of anyone who has.

I know of one wine critic who was said to have committed suicide after feeling that he had lost his palate. That sounds much more reasonable an option to me......

Best
Rogov

There was a gentleman who used to post here who did not drink but did taste. In fact, he claimed to sip an spit entire bottles over the course of an evening (to observe the development).

I once met a man ITB who did not even take wine into his mouth claiming that he could make sound buying judgements by nose alone. I am very sceptical about this, quite apart from the loss of all the pleasures derived from the palate.

[Robin Garr]

The smoking thread got me thinking about this. I'd be curious if there have been people you know who quit drinking but not tasting. Let's say you want to change your lifestyle and not drink alcohol, or maybe you develop a medical condition where you can't drink alchohol (e.g. a liver ailment) any more. But you have a cellar full of wine, and still want to taste wine. Or maybe you're a profession wine critic. So you become a spitter. It sounds really weird, thinking about going thru a bottle of great wine and spitting it all out. Thoughts?

I know one sommelier who does this. I'm not sure about her reasoning but assume that it has to do with concern about alcoholism balanced against a desire to keep an exciting career. It seems like a sad choice to me, but of course you don't know what goes on in another's head.

(Added: she won't go through a whole bottle and spit it all out, of course. Rather, in the course of duty, she'll take a small taste for evaluation, spit it out, then move on to the next table.)

there were a few stories about a guy named Tim Hanni recently:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB ... l?mod=blog

Many years ago I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia--a sugar/pancreas thing. Anyway, on the list of foods to avoid was alcohol. I asked the doc if that included wine. He said that it certainly does. I told him that only death can put a stop to me drinking wine, so he should come up with a better idea. He relented and said I could drink a little wine each day.

One man's "little" is quite possibly another man's "lot!"

I like your style Thomas! I have often said that when the doctor tells me I have six months to live, I will be the one heading to my cellar with a corkscrew and a glass!!

[Robin Garr]

I like your style Thomas! I have often said that when the doctor tells me I have six months to live, I will be the one heading to my cellar with a corkscrew and a glass!!

This is a grim topic, and one I hope not to hear myself. But I'm told at least one very good local doctor has a simple instruction that he offers patients with terminal diseases: "Do things you like."

I like your style Thomas! I have often said that when the doctor tells me I have six months to live, I will be the one heading to my cellar with a corkscrew and a glass!!

This is a grim topic, and one I hope not to hear myself. But I'm told at least one very good local doctor has a simple instruction that he offers patients with terminal diseases: "Do things you like."

Isn't there a Hospice in the Rhone valley? That's where I'd spend my last days

Bryan

I like your style Thomas! I have often said that when the doctor tells me I have six months to live, I will be the one heading to my cellar with a corkscrew and a glass!!

This is a grim topic, and one I hope not to hear myself. But I'm told at least one very good local doctor has a simple instruction that he offers patients with terminal diseases: "Do things you like."

Isn't there a Hospice in the Rhone valley? That's where I'd spend my last days

Bryan

There's the famous hospice at Beaune, but it's only for show now...and for auctions!

I know of one wine critic who was said to have committed suicide after feeling that he had lost his palate. That sounds much more reasonable an option to me......

Man had no grit.

If Beethoven could go on compoing after losing his hearing, the least a critic could do is keep on tasting.

Of course if he'd lost his audience instead of his palate, I could understand his reaction.....

Interestingly enough, I know of a person "in the business." The newish Whole Paycheck...err Whole Foods megaemporium of wonderful yuppie foods in Napa City has a quite nice tasting bar. They offer some unique things, too, like Dominus and Ice Wine and Margaux. Stuff it would be difficult to try easily elsewhere.

The very personnable wine steward, who also works at one of the Name restaurants in the Valley, does not drink any more. He told me he felt it was out of control. He loves to smell wine, though. It's fun to watch him, because he is still really "into it," but has the discipline to admit he had a problem and can't swallow alcohol any more. So...it is possible.

I am more of a sniffer than a gulper and therefore if one day , due to whatever reason that I cannot consume any alcohol, I think I can still live with smelling the wines only!

The very personnable wine steward, who also works at one of the Name restaurants in the Valley, does not drink any more. He told me he felt it was out of control. He loves to smell wine, though. It's fun to watch him, because he is still really "into it," but has the discipline to admit he had a problem and can't swallow alcohol any more. So...it is possible.

Dunno - sounds too much like a pedophile running a kindergarten to me......better if he got right out of the business.

[Jenise]

There was a gentleman who used to post here who did not drink but did taste. In fact, he claimed to sip an spit entire bottles over the course of an evening (to observe the development).

Oh gosh, I remember this. Now I'm trying to remember who it was.

Not swallowing would be conceivable if I had advanced cirrhosis (excuse the foul language), but just smelling wouldn't be enough for me. The mouth feel (tannins, acid, integration, balance, etc.) is much too important a part of the experience.

There was a gentleman who used to post here who did not drink but did taste. In fact, he claimed to sip an spit entire bottles over the course of an evening (to observe the development).

Oh gosh, I remember this. Now I'm trying to remember who it was.

Was it Joe Rosenberg?

I've been in that situation for several months, Bryan. I need to take a medicine, and interaction with alcohol causes dizziness on an unpredictable basis, usually 18 to 36 hours after ingestion, unpredictable as to occurrence, duration and intensity. Dizziness doesn't occur while or after drinking.

I've tried a couple of tastings where I spit only -- I've done that a number of times over the year at large tastings, drinking only a glass or so during the evening, usually after the spit and taste was done. Was often great fun -- I've written up my notes on some of these tastings, and at least one is posted here -- I'll edit it in in due course.

Somehow spitting without having the option to actually drinking wine lacks interest for me. I have no professional reason for doing so -- as a sommelier or wine critic might have. I always enjoyed writing up my notes during these tastings, then finding my favorites and actually drinking a sip or two during the evening or sharing a glass or two later on with a meal.

For me, spitting only lacks interest and joy. I'm taking up another hobby to replace wine, with reluctance but in the recognition that continuing to drink wine with the risk of the side effect is not a reasonable option. It appears I'm an all or nothing guy in this regard, at least.

Best, Bob

I guess I'll be the one who says that a real part of the reason I drink wine at all is because I like the effects of alcohol in moderation. I like the fact that a glass or two in the evening lightens the ache in my back and the stresses of the day. Now I like good wine because if I'm going to be drinking wine I want to enjoy it as much as possible. But if I couldn't drink wine anymore for whatever reason, the tasting bit would have no appeal to me.

Glenn

[Robin Garr]

I guess I'll be the one who says that a real part of the reason I drink wine at all is because I like the effects of alcohol in moderation. I like the fact that a glass or two in the evening lightens the ache in my back and the stresses of the day. Now I like good wine because if I'm going to be drinking wine I want to enjoy it as much as possible. But if I couldn't drink wine anymore for whatever reason, the tasting bit would have no appeal to me.

Nothing wrong with that, Glenn! I think most of us would agree, and that most of us would also routinely default to moderation.

Because I taste so many wines for publication and at judgings, events and gatherings, I do tend to sniff a lot and sip only a little (although I only spit at judgings, not when I'm tasting for enjoyment).

Somewhat like Bob, I've recently had some medication that does not absolutely contraindicate alcohol but is probably best matched with alcohol prudently. Many nights, I'll end up nursing maybe only an ounce or two with the meal and afterward, sniffling happily and sipping gently. It might not be my ideal pattern (although actually it's not that far from it), but it sure as hell beats spitting it out.

There was a gentleman who used to post here who did not drink but did taste. In fact, he claimed to sip an spit entire bottles over the course of an evening (to observe the development).

Oh gosh, I remember this. Now I'm trying to remember who it was.

Was it Joe Rosenberg?

I doubt it, Clinton. When Joe started experiencing health problems, or rather when his health problems grew worse, he stopped opening wines altogether to hear him tell the story. Maybe someone knows differently, but that's what I recall.

Mark Lipton

There was one time in my sordid past when I could not drink wine for a month, as research for a potential medical problem, and in preparation for a medical test. It didn't bother me much, since I chose not to sniff or taste, because I know the gravitational pull the product has on me.

In any event, as a wine judge, I am quite aware that alcohol gets into the system even when spitting.