how ridiculous it was back when my pay check already had a little extra for small indulgence when i thought of buying wine, i brought to the counter 4 vodka teasers (peche, fraise, citron and cassis) and 1 vodka cruiser (guava). these are alcoholic sodas or premixed drinks intended for binge drinking sessions. i did not intend to throw a bash during that time of the year. nor was i capable of spending guiltlessly huge amount of money. i thought at that time that it was the most spectacular choice knowing from my first encounter with Vodka and Tequila in my college days.

after that fateful event, i assigned the task of buying wine to my mom and my brothers. I bet my brothers have good taste since they may have more drinking sprees than i have ever experienced. or mindfully, they can take in more liquor into their body than i can ever imagine inside my throat.

every christmas, my mom has this habit of buying cheap wine. it’s the only time of the year we have extra in our pockets and have reason to spend guiltessly. pretentiously, we would think we had made an outstanding choice based on the shape of the bottle, the artistry of the label and the more foreign sounding the words on the label, the better it is.  price was not much an indicator since the range we can afford do not much vary (P350 or less).

however, for five years now, i still have not gotten any marvelous palate experience with wine. there is that anticipated frustration everytime i open a bottle and do my first sip. it does not in anyway comply to the usual claim that it complements the taste of the food taken with it. instead, it becomes another beer-after-dinner session with my brothers while tumbling the bottle up.

until i had a taste of the the red muscat. it would not have been a surprise if i had  known this is a semi-sweet wine, a taste i have been longing for. it was even fantastic when my brother paired the red muscat with grilled pork, chicken and fish. the taste of barbecue, spices and the sweetness of the wine made our simple christmas meal into a delectable treat, something unforgettable to the palate.

after then, our confidence in choosing wine was elevated. when new year came, i didn’t know what went up in my mom’s mind that she bought a blush wine, a casual white wine (luscious peach) and of course the tested and proven red muscat all at the same time. she kept telling us that we should not drink them as it was for display purposes only. uhuh!..tell that to my brothers and that will entice them to glut even more.still not satisfied, my brother bought also a cabernet sauvignon intended for his buddies for an after midnight spree.

with the experience we had lately with red muscat, the anticipation of a better tasting food with wine engulfed as as we opened the blush wine with "menudo", spaghetti and grilled boneless bangus on the table. not much a feast for a new year celebration. anyway, the wine, made up the ambiance we perceive of a celebration would be. not to our disappointment, the "menudo" was a great pair for the blush wine. the mocha cake was even more mouth watering with a drink from it.

we thought the red muscat will do it’s magic again. but the food served with it wasn’t a perfect match. that is why it was shunned for a while…

before midnight, my brother’s drinking buddies came. there was only one. he is our neighbor who is an architect reviewing for his board exam this coming year. as planned, the cabernet sauvignon came out of the cabinet. although i did not sit with them to empty the bottle, a hefty dose on a sleek tulip shaped wine glass was served to me by my brother while i was doing on my solitary reading in our terrace. twas not the time to devour another meal to accompany the wine. the dinner we had was still lingering in my stomach. then came the sip. a sip that nothing more but heated up my throat and made me grapple for water as the flavor came on strong. not another drink came after that. i gave the cup back to my brother.

had i known the carbernet sauvignon be mixed up with a merlot, my experience with it would have been different. i could have waited until April when i could afford a merlot bottle and prove the text. now, with that anticipation, i have to budget for the two.

i dont know if our experience is similar with other people who embrace that thrill of wine tasting. i am sure those who do enjoy wine and are expert with it find it funny and ridiculous. what is there to loose? we get to be excited having chosen a wine for a particular meal and found a perfect match, get frustrated once in a while, and share the experience, which will be a nice topic to discuss with family and friends over dinner. CHEERS!!!

mom always tells me that i never get to finish anything that i started.
she’s uncontested being right all the time about it. try to ask her of all the gadgets i have brought home trying to convince her of an artistic outcome of it when after a mood swing, worthless crap piles up.

i always convince my self that it’s not me who’s to blame. it is the personality that i am born with as predestined by the stars and signs. i tell my self that it is a systemic way of the elements of the universe conniving to follow the natural patterns of existence.

many a times have i tried overturning that belief knowing that such things should be discounted if the full extent of the human capacity will be debated. however, even though this is unhealthy to admit, in all those attempts, the universe has a mysterious way of keeping itself attuned to its predetermined ways.

surprisingly, my human capacity is always anxious about what can’t be done. and the idea of loosing to a hypothetical design of human behavior is disheartening.

its already 2008. i need to start turning the piles up. i need to finish this or else… i will be another oblivious suspect of a passive nonresistance.