Le CONNOISSUER

The announcement was made.

“We are having dinner with Doug and his wife. The place we are going to is an upscale Italian restaurant, but you have to bring your own wine.”

The “we” of course is TLW and me. Doug is a co-worker of TLW’s who works at the Wanna-Be Bank and Truss Company.

“What kind of wine should we bring?” asks TLW. "I think Corrine is a connoisseur of wines.”

Me: “Oh! Well I really think it depends on the menu, what you order. Red meats, red, fish: white or blush or as they say: ’rose’! Do you know what you are going to eat?”

“No, but I like a red!”

Me: “Well, get a red. But get something that is a little classier than Al’s Wine for $2.50 a gallon. Get a decent bottle with a cork.”

“Why don’t you get the wine?”

“O.K., I’ll get the wine.”

I go to the liquor store and scan the many bottles of red wine. There is Spanish, Australian, South American and German. Not being a big wine drinker, I see some tantalizing bottles for $3, but buy a nicely bottled, Italian wine. (No self-respecting Italian would buy anything else.) That would fit nicely on the table. I purchase it, $40 worth of decency, and step out of the store and feel self-conscious because I feel like a wino, an old guy carrying around a bottle of wine, dressed with a t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap!

The morning of the dinner date, we discuss the wine.

Me: “So, Corrine is a wine connoisseur! I better get a dress shirt for the dinner then, if I’m drinking with a connoisseur, I better dress like it.”

TLW: “Oh, I don’t know if she is, it just seems like it.”

To think, I passed up Al’s Wine, on sale for 2 gallons for $4.00! It seems last Tuesday was a bumper crop for grapes.

P.S. Corrine didn't need to be a connoissur, she is a beautiful gal with a smile longer than any vineyard! Doug, made a great partner to compliment each other and made for a great dinner party!