Why I blog

A person in the wine industry asked me, "Why DO you like beer? It's boring."

There, then, I groaned silently. Here, now, I respond.

No sir, beer is NOT boring.

Boring is a mindset, a giving up. We all have been there, from time to time. But what is not boring are those crystalline moments when one grasps past the quotidian, or is pulled from it.

Which is why a bite into a freshly baked loaf of bread is not boring (even if that loaf has been baked with a grain that was not a recently rediscovered ancient heirloom), or why the first sip of a good beer is anything but boring (even if that beer has no 'extreme' character other than the brewer's joyful care), or why a glance into your lover’s eyes —a really deep look— is anything but boring.

No, sir, pleasure and discovery are not boring. Complacency and ignorance are.

So, for that 'gentleman' of the first sentence, I paraphrase the great American composer, Charles Ives: Stand up, sir, and use your taste buds like a man.

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After reading Facebook comments about this post, I felt I should append a postscript. I originally wrote this essay in November 2011, but have waited to post it until now, in part, to protect the guilty person, and, in part, myself. This wine industry person is indeed real, but his opinions could be also viewed as a composite of others' in the industry. But not all! Wine and beer, two very different alcoholic beverages, have many advocates who find value and pleasure in both.