Wine-Traveler
Wine-traveler, n. One who goes to a new city, basing all museum visits and activities around when the next glass of vino is enjoyed. This could take part in a) a restaurant, b) a bar, c) a winery, or d) on the bathroom floor in a nightclub. If taking a trip with a fellow wine-traveler, you will not spend your days thirsty. On the other hand, if traveling with a non-wine-traveler, you will surely be annoyed at the other person's desire to "become more cultured" and arguments against drinking wine all day. In this case, voyages with non-wine-travelers are not advised. (My recent submission to Urban dictionary; approval pending).
Tell me: I can't be alone here. Is it so wrong to remember places based off of its flavors?
Exhibit A, My description of a recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal.
Approx. 2 weeks ago, 6:45pm (**while enjoying Beaujoulais Nouveau).
“The old military post, Belem Tower, was amazing. Right after taking a panoramic photo at the top, we took the motorbike to the other side of the Bay to the tiny village of Almeda. We had lunch on the water where we ate the traditional salted codfish and discovered a white wine from the Dão that had a 9 different indigenous varietals in it. Terrific minerality and high acidity. A really perfect white fish wine.”
I have to admit I laughed out loud with I read this New Yorker Daily Shouts “A Selection of the 30 Most Disappointing Under 30” this morning.
Excerpts:
Like…
Maura Kinsella, twenty-six
Pretends to be laid-back but will online search for 2 hours for the best (but *like* not touristy) wine bar when travelling.
Yes. I loathe myself. Ok, not true but you know... there is some substance behind it all. It's how I'm on my current path as a winemaker!
Ironically, while traveling the world for bike racing, I developed my passion for each country's different tastes and complexities, the stories and histories behind each wine, and the community and conversation wine builds around it. You might think, professional cycling may very well be the antithesis of winemaking; and truth be told, I was not foreign to teammates’ funny stares as I’d sip a glass of Chianti in Tuscany or a Champagne in Paris the night before the “biggest race of our lives.” I’d jokingly retort that “If I didn’t drink wine, I’d be nervous about my subsequent plummeting antioxidant intake.”
Of course, travel is not ALL about drinking wine. For instance, I'm heading to the Pyrenees this weekend for some solid trail-running in the snow. But I'll admit, I'd lie if I said I haven't already studied the wine lists of the restaurants in the area...