Dreams

Recently another urban myth was shattered for me when the liquor store I work at cut hours for the entire staff.  Business has been a little slow so I guess the boss wanted to save some on payroll expenses.  I understand that but part of the reason I got into the liquor business in the first place was because it was supposed to be recession proof.  I mean everybody wants to come home and unwind with a stiff drink right?  It takes their mind off the economy being so bad.

All that free time gave me a chance to think about where I am in life right now.  What I came up with is a question, what happened to all of my dreams?  The way I see it by now I should have had a couple of Oscar’s for best original screenplay, or at least a Hugo for best science fiction novel of the year.  What happened?

I think the answer is I quit taking chances.  At some point in the past when I was making just about enough to cover the expenses I stopped thinking about what comes next and started worrying about what happens if I lose what I have.  So a switch took place, instead of thinking about what made me happy I started thinking, how do I keep the boss happy?

Soon a routine develops; you go to work and go through the motions, just enough to keep the clock ticking till its time to go home.  At home you throw something in the microwave and crash in front of the TV till its time to go to bed.  You go to sleep, you get up, you repeat.  Pretty soon you don’t even notice that something is missing, your dreams.

I complained about how having my schedule cut meant I would lose my eligibility for health insurance.  This week I got my hours returned to normal but before I fall back into that routine I think I'll do something different, I think I'll take a chance.  It’s time to start living my dream.

Collectors

            This week I had the opportunity to help a customer that was looking for a particular pinot grigio.  It was no real surprise that he couldn’t remember the name of the wine or whether it was domestic or imported. 

            What caught my interest was the detail he gave in describing the label on the bottle.  I spent some more time talking to him and got the story.  He explained that he owns a snow blower and in the winter likes to clean the sidewalks of most of the people on his block.  In exchange they tend to leave bottles of wine in the snow by his doorstep.  Here is where it gets interesting, this guy said he doesn’t really like the taste of wine but he tried this pinot grigio and thought it was tasty and wanted more.  I couldn’t help asking him why people gave him wine if he didn’t like the stuff.  He explained that he collected wine for the art on the labels.  In fact he claimed to have several thousand bottles at home in his collection.  I looked at him for a second and was about to explain that most people who collect wine labels don’t keep the empty bottle let alone full ones.  But then I decided, what the heck, this guy is having fun with his little hobby and who was I to tell him how to go about it.  Besides, maybe he thinks the labels look better with the different colors of wine as a background.    So instead I took him over to see the Oreana Project Happiness Syrah.  The whole of the label is a bright yellow smiley face.  I told him that it was my favorite label in the store.  He decided to get it as a present for someone he knew.  When it was all done even though he didn’t get the pinot grigio he came in looking for he went away happy and I had a good story to tell this week.

            I can relate to that customer, he is a collector and collectors are quirky people.  I should know I’m a collector of books myself.  There are several thousand of the things crammed onto shelves all over my house.  On more than one occasion I have been told that I am doing everything wrong when it comes to book collecting.

            When I get books autographed I like to have the author personalize the inscription to me.  It seems that sort of thing really subtracts from the value of a first edition if you ever try to sell it.  Who cares!  I also read the books when I get home with them and no matter how careful you are it’s no longer in mint condition when you finish reading. 

            The whole point for me has never been the value my books might have at some time in the future but the enjoyment I get out of them now.  I can pick up any one of my books and think back to the event I was at when I got it signed and enjoy reliving that moment.

            When I have had a stressful day at work I can come home open up any book and lose myself in the universe the author created and suddenly my problems don’t seem all that bad.  Sure, it’s escapism but what’s so bad about that?

            I imagine it is the same for that customer with his thousands of bottles of wine.  Maybe he comes home after a hard day’s work and goes straight to his wine collection.  Maybe pulling out bottles from the rack and looking at the labels relaxes him.  Still, I have to wonder about one thing.  What is the guy going to think of that prized label on say, a bottle of rose when the wine goes from pink to muddy brown with age?  Maybe he will learn to like the taste of wine before then.

Will it Last?

Working in a large, downtown liquor store is a perfect spot for seeing all types of people.  You really get to see how times are changing.  For instance, it wasn't all that long ago that if someone came in to buy box wine you could bet that they would be likely to finish half the box before they even got back to the trailer park.  Last week a customer came into the store and caught us all off guard by asking how long you could store box wine before drinking it.

Now many box wines come with a “Best when consumed by” date stamped on them.  Of course the box this customer wanted was an exception to this rule.

Of all the things we said about this guy he was patient.  He waited nearly half an hour while we called everyone short of the producer to get an answer.  We finally found out that the wine was stamped with a production date but no expiration date.  He went home with the most recent production date we could find.  I went home and started looking for the answer to his question.

Now it’s a given that less than 10% of all wine produced is meant to be aged for any amount of time.  There is an inside joke that most Americans do have a wine cellar; it’s called the back seat of the car for the drive home.  Somehow I didn’t think the customer would get the joke.

A couple of interesting facts came up when I started my research.  The bag-in-box system was invented in 1955 as a method to transport battery acid.

Franzia bills itself as the world's most popular wine and they have some interesting numbers to back up their claim.  For instance, in 2007 enough 5L boxes were sold that if stacked up they would reach over 1025 time the height of Mt. Everest.  When you do the math it would take a stack of about 33,600,000 boxes to reach 1,025 times the height of Everest.  The top of that pile would reach almost to the edge of the Exosphere, the outermost layer of the atmosphere. If you managed to climb to the top of that stack and wanted to pour yourself a little drink you might have a problem.  There just isn’t much oxygen left up there and most of that is busy escaping into space.

Well, as it turns out oxygen is important for more than just breathing.  When you open a bottle and air gets to the wine it starts a reaction that softens and opens the aroma of the wine.  The problem is that over time this oxidation makes the wine undrinkable.  That is why, generally, once you open a bottle you should consume it within 3 days.

Box wines have an advantage thanks to an airlock tap first developed back in the mid 60’s.  The tap helps to keep air out of the bag.  This allows the wine to stay fresh for 4 to 6 weeks after you open the box.  This is quite an improvement over 3 days for the bottle.

Nothing is perfect; there is a problem with box wine.  That problem both explains why most boxes have an expiration date and answers the customer’s question.  The plastic bag that holds the wine is not completely airtight.  At the microscopic level oxygen can still get into the wine. It is generally accepted that you have 12 months after the bag is sealed before the wine starts to go bad.

So don't let that box of wine gather dust down in the basement.  Call some friends, break out some hot dogs and marshmallows to barbeque and enjoy that wine.  Nothing lasts forever.