Monday, March 26, 2007

Romance and Flowers

Today, I bought a bottle of Flowers pinot on a gamble. I have been looking forward to trying Flowers for the past two years, but haven’t gotten the chance to buy a $50 bottle on my student budget. Due to recent events, I decided to take a big risk and splurge.

Diane, my girlfriend of two years, and I had an argument on Friday night which resulted in a break to “think about us”. If I could only take back everything that I said that night… But alas, I sit here waiting for her to make a call on the future of our relationship. Once the gravity of my situation set in, I called my mom. She advised that I pick up a great bottle to help me through this fight. At the wine shop I zeroed in on the Robert Sinskey pinot that I discovered a few months ago at First Crush. As I was bringing the Sinskey to the counter, the bottle of Flowers caught my eye. In a moment of impulse, I grabbed the Flowers and slapped my credit card down. I hatched a plan.

When Diane and I resolve our break, kiss and make up, I will pop the cork on the Flowers and toast to love and forgiveness. If my plan works, this bottle may very well become the bottle of Jonathan and Diane. It will be a feature at future anniversaries and maybe even be poured at a wedding. The pinot will be a celebration of great wine and of great love.

But what if my plan goes South and there is a dissolution of Diane and Jonathan? Flowers will wilt into a bottle of tears and heart break. I don’t think I will be able to bring myself to drink it. If I get up the courage to pop the cork, it will be a solemn experience. I will never be able to appreciate this wine for what it’s worth. When perusing wine lists, it will be vino non grata. When tasting flights of California pinots, I will have to slide the glass away from me and resign myself to an incomplete tasting.

So, what should I do? Should I preemptively uncork it tonight and dull the pangs of my anxiety? Or should I put the Flowers on the line and hope that Jonathan and Diane will have just the right bottle when the time is right?

2 comments:

Jonathan Harriman said...

Eric Asimov, the Chief Wine Critic of the New York Times Responded:

In my therapeutic capacity it would be wrong for me to offer specific relationship advice without hearing Diane's side of the story. But I can tell you this. If things work out, you'll have wonderful California pinot noir to look forward to. If they don't, well, at least it won't be Burgundy or Champagne that you'll have to forgo the rest of your life. And remember, you'll always have Paris.

Best wishes, and good luck,
Eric Asimov

Jonathan Harriman said...

Jon Bonne, Wine Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, responded:

A tricky question. My advice is this -- go for it. If you think it's up to par, and you think the lucky reunion will happen, it'll be worth the $$ to have an extra bottle. Certainly, Flowers is of a quality that, for many people, it will be a truly special wine. But there are many other Pinots in the sea. If it proves to be a special wine for you two, you'll enjoy it all the more. If it doesn't all work out, I think you should be able to find a reasonable substitute for Flowers. Finding another good Pinot in California is certainly easier than finding just the right special person.