here<\/a> to go to Wabash West – and read about the reception and see photos.<\/b><\/p>\nHoward\u2019s now into his wine thing. He orders a sauvignon blanc and, when our cute brunette waitress brings it, begins to discuss "the notes" with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cCitrussy, maybe a hint of grapefruit,\u201d he says. I think the waitress is indulging him, but then she really gets into it. So into it she says, \u201cLet me bring our Haughton blend and see what you think." Like Howard’s a real expert. And I have to admit, he’s pretty good.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m beginning to realize that Howard\u2019s wine hobby is not only a sly way to talk with pretty women about sensual things, but a great way to get free stuff.<\/p>\n
She brings the wine, pours, then leaves us to savor it.<\/p>\n
Howard swirls the wine in his glass, reminds me to hold the glass by the stem so I don\u2019t change the taste with my body heat from my hand,\u2020then shoves his nose into his glass like he’s going to snort the stuff.<\/p>\n
He seems baffled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I struggle to put words to this,\u201d says Howard, who never struggles to put words to anything. \u201cI think that whatever a person says they smell, well, that\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell this wine smells like paint,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n
\u201cShut up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does. Like paint. Or paint thinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
"Shut up."<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I mean, I love the taste, but it does smell like paint."<\/p>\n
"Shut Up."<\/p>\n
The waitress returns, she and Howard start chatting,<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it smells kind of like paint,\u201d I interrupt. I\u2019m looking at the waitress, but I\u2019m pretty sure Howard is rolling his eyes. She laughs a little. Did I mention she\u2019s really cute?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I\u2019ve heard some people say that Sauvignon Blanc smells like cat pee,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
"Smell is the sense of memory," I say, not knowing what I’m talking about. "There are professional smellers, you know," I add. What an i idiot. But I\u2019ve got her attention. She brings up Diane Ackerman\u2019s book, History of the Senses, which I\u2019ve read, and we begin talking about it, recalling a favorite passage, getting along wonderfully.<\/p>\n
Then Howard chimes in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve heard Pinot Noir described as having a \u2018barnyard smell’," and he and the waitress go back and forth sharing uncomplimentary ways of describing the stench of wine. I think I might be on to something with this unconventional approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know,\u201d I say when the waitress leaves, "I love this wine, but it does smell like paint."<\/p>\n
\u201cShutup,\u201d says Howard.<\/p>\n
Saturday we’re going to visit Steve Pavy at one of the most prestigious wineries in the Napa Valley. I’ve got a lot to learn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steve Charles – Wine is Howard Hewitt’s hobby, his avocation. So after the San Francisco reception to \u2020roll out the winter issue of Wabash Magazine, we\u2019re getting a bite to eat at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"w_featured_image_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}