Our Wine Collection

Obviously Dinner Table Doctor and I enjoy our wine. It has become a hobby of his and at this point I would say he enjoys thinking about a bottle, researching it, cataloguing it and storing it as much if not more than he enjoys actually drinking it. I am the exact opposite. Not to say that I don’t enjoy learning about wine and designing a meal around a specific bottle, but I have a terrible memory. I savor the wine in the moment and then move on. Researching it for too long or saving it for too long just makes me forget all I’ve learned or even forget the bottle exists in our refrigerator. But while I’m drinking a glass, especially with the perfect meal pairing, I enjoy and thoroughly appreciate every moment.

DTD has such a great memory he has actually reminded me when I had a specific wine at some point in my life. It might have been years earlier. He’ll say something like, “You had this before. Three years ago we were at a wine tasting and it was paired with a braised short rib. You liked it.” While impressive, sometimes this is maddening because I swear he makes things up, but I must say when it comes to my taste in wine he’s usually right on the money.

DTD uses an app called CellarTracker, which I highly recommend. You can input every bottle of wine you have and search it by variety or even best date to consume by. A photo as well as the price and reviews and tasting notes are all at my fingertips, so it’s easy for me to help select a bottle even when I don’t remember all the details off the top of my head. He is even kind enough to input the exact location of the bottle (we have two wine refrigerators) by designating whether it’s in the kitchen or the basement and the shelf number where I can find it. (I predict writing an OCD post in the near future…) Personally I would never take the time to input every bottle we purchase, but because he actually enjoys the process, it’s a win-win. I so appreciate organization, especially when someone else does it for me!

The biggest problem we have with our wine is that DTD sometimes likes to hold on to a bottle for far too long. He so enjoys just having them, it can be hard to let them go… especially the pricier ones, most of which have been gifts from family, friends, or patients. I find myself constantly making up reasons for celebrations to convince him that it is time to open a certain special bottle!

Here are some photos of our wine setup:

What a joy it is to create a meal that goes perfectly with a bottle of wine! It’s even better when you can share it with friends or family.