Top 10 Reasons Wine Is Better Than Beer & Spirits

...and why wine shouldn't (and won't?) be ignored by younger drinkers

When I was 18 years old I liked driving. By myself. I lived in Novato, California, about 40 minutes north of San Francisco and 30 minutes or so from Napa Valley. It was around 1981 when I started to drive northeast toward Napa and make the drive up Highway 29, cut over eastward at Calistoga, then back south down Silverado Trail.

I was too young to drink in 1981, but I did anyway…usually beer or some mixture of spirits and soft drinks. We didn’t drink wine. Not enough bank for the buck. Some of the girls did, either in the form of something terribly sweet or wine coolers—all the rage then. One girl I dated enjoyed mixing Hawaiian Punch with Gin. We didn’t last.

On those trips up to Napa Valley, I’d stare out at the endless rows of vines and take note of the numerous wineries where I’d see folks pull their cars in, get out and go taste wine. I was afraid of doing the same despite my growing interest in what all these grapes became and also knowing I was driving through the premier wine country in America.

My courage was mustered first at Beaulieu Vineyards located in the little hamlet of Rutherford. It seemed to have lots of cars, which meant I might be able to blend in. But I didn’t know what I was blending into really. I’d never been in a tasting room. Nevertheless, I parked my car, got out, stood as tall as I could, and tried to walk into what appeared to be the tasting room with as much confidence as possible.

No one said a word. They just kept pushing wines in front of me as I stood at the bar. I don’t recall getting a sideways glance from the person behind the bar. Just more glasses of wine. And the wines tasted nothing like my girlfriend’s Hawaiian Punch and gin. It tasted nothing like the thin Budweiser we drank from kegs at parties. I liked it. Like I have always done with new discoveries, I started studying it. Not seriously, but casually. Books mainly. And I was shocked. The depth and breadth of the history and culture of wine were overwhelming. But not too overwhelming that I dropped the subject.