As a wine lover, there are certain region/varietal combinations that I hang my hat on. Dry Creek Valley is good for Zinfandel, Russian River Valley is good for Pinot, Malbec in Argentina, Chardonnay in Burgundy, the list goes on. It serves as a blueprint for making wine selections. But sometimes I can get so bogged down by these preconceptions that I fail to see the larger picture. It has led me to be unfairly judgmental at times, something that I’m not proud of. These are the moments when wine lovers can get that bed reputation. It’s the moment when wine “lover” turns to wine “snob” because these concepts turn from points of guidance to points of judgment. So I love when some of my deep-rooted dogmas are challenged.

On Thanksgiving eve, my family was in the kitchen preparing for the 35 people whom we would be welcoming into our home the next day. My Dad perused his cellar, thinking of what to open. He came upon a 1990 Cabernet Sauvignon from Umpqua Valley in Southern Oregon. Since I was recently on an Oregon vacation, he asked for my opinion.

“Hey, should I open this tomorrow? Think it will be any good?”  He asked.

“What is it?” I replied with excited anticipation.

“It’s a Cabernet Sauvignon from Oregon, from 1990.”

Suddenly, my entire family burst into laughter. The whole kitchen reverberated with the sound. An onlooker would have thought we were watching a Steve Carrell flick.

“Yea, that’ll be really good” I said with fierce sarcasm. A 20-year-old Cabernet, from Oregon! Yahahaha!

Knowing Oregon strictly as Pinot Noir land, this was a hilarious joke for a family so embedded in wine preconceptions. I stepped outside of the moment and chuckled even further at what a group of snobs we were. What other family would find this SO hilarious? Not many.

The next morning my Dad opened a Carter Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville (more in line with common preconceptions). It drank beautifully. My boyfriend took one look at the over 14% alcohol content though and knew, this wine wasn’t for him. Seeking subtly, my Dad turned to the aforementioned 1990 Oregon Cab and opened it for him.

This wine was phenomenal. After nearly twenty years of age it was showing gorgeous layers of aroma. There was black cherry and soft spice but then hints of lead pencil. It had a solid backbone of tannin, creating elegant structure. I turned from my Napa Cab and became enveloped in this old Umpqua Valley Cab.

The joke was on us! Any laughter coming from the room was simply in our enjoyment of this wine that had really surprised us, humbling a group of snobs.

I love being proven wrong like that. It forces you to recalibrate your stigmas or perhaps, abandon them altogether. We were all caught in a wine snob moment. And we were wrong!

For your information, the wine was a Henry Estate 1990 Cabernet Sauvignon, one of Oregon’s oldest producers. Sadly they don’t make a straight Cabernet anymore. Perhaps they’ve fallen victim to wine snob preconceptions and Oregon Cabs won’t sell. But I wish they would!

Have you ever been caught in a wine snob moment?

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