Cindy Bradford

By now, most of you know, I like wine. I like the taste, the smell, the aura, the mystic. Wine is interesting and no matter how much I study it, I never know enough. Wine has such a unique history, and it is so different from country to country and even from region to region. I have had the good fortune to taste Italian wine in Italy, French wine in France, German wine in Germany, Argentinean wine in Argentina, Chilean wine in Chile, and so on. I don’t say that to brag (well maybe a little); I am truly proud because I think that is a significant feat.

It is also an expensive one. I certainly can’t pretend to be a collector or even a taster of truly expensive vintages because the cost is prohibitive to a retired educator. But that doesn’t stop me from shopping for hours and trying to find the wines with the highest ratings for the lowest prices. I have literally spent eight straight hours at Spec’s, in downtown Houston, wandering down each aisle, reading labels and recommendations, and then narrowing down my selections to my budget. Many a vacation I have bought wine along the way and toted a case or two into the hotel so the bottles wouldn’t get too hot and then toted them back to the car the next day, for days at a time. Crazy, huh?

I have taken lessons, visited vineyards in the States and abroad, and read countless magazine articles. I’m still intrigued by the process of taking a simple grape and turning it into something so delightfully complex and alluring. Of course, it takes a lot of grapes, between 600-800, depending on the size and juiciness, to make a single bottle. And the process is such a lengthy and complicated one, I sometimes feel guilty drinking it so quickly. But the guilt doesn’t last too long.

I am also a believer in having just the right glasses to make the wine taste the best. After all, some of the wine I buy needs all the help it can get, but I have been lucky enough on several occasions to try some pretty darn good stuff, which I could get used to if only I could sell a few million books.

Well, back to the glasses. I have a nice collection of Riedel crystal glasses which are designed in certain shapes to complement the bouquet and finish of different wines. Three I even bought in Austria and brought back (two actually made the trip successfully). I could have purchased them here, probably cheaper, but they are special because I bought them where they were made.

For several years I collected and saved corks. Friends even brought me theirs, and I made cork wreaths for the few people who requested. They were not exactly hot items, but they were sorta cool.  Finally, I had more corks than I had room, so now I keep only a special few, which I drag out occasionally only to wonder where in the world that so called special one came from and why was it in the batch?

During the holidays, especially for New Years,  I don’t feel as guilty paying a little more for a good quality wine that pairs well with a great dish—maybe a nice Malbec from Argentina or a rich, powerful Cabernet from Napa Valley or to start with bread and cheese, a light and delicately floral Pinot Grigio. Ah, with a lot of money and a little practice, I think I would make a very pleasantly, obnoxious wine snob!!