Billy's Best Bottles: Wine & Music

Forget expertise.

For me, wine and music play similar roles in life. They both offer an endless variety of opportunities for a lift, a laugh, or to generally delight the heart and soul.

For both wine and music, the key to enjoyment is developing a sense of what's appropriate—a knack for choosing the wine or music that's right for the moment. One minute we may desire something nourishing and soothing. Another time we want to kick up our heels and go wild. Good times with wine is not something you buy, it's something you create.

There's wine for all our moods. Matching the spirit or character of a wine to that of an event is the great overlooked challenge in wine. The person who knows which wine to play is the real wine expert.

you and your wine
Just like music, play the wine that's right for the moment. If the wine isn't working after 'two tracks, it's time to take it off the turn table! Pour small amounts in your glass. Have a few bottles always open. Play with your collection. And have lots of different styles in your repertoire. Don't play the same CD or album 24/7, and don't drink the same wine week after week. Shake it up. Surprise, entertain and stay connected to the mood. Create ebb and flow, and read your audience.

Like music, wine is interactive. Records and wine are not useful once purchased, only when played. You have nothing until you put the wine into context with mood and company – and with thought. It's what you bring to the wine that will make it shine or not, and give it value. A $10 bottle can deliver $100 worth of pleasure, and vice versa. This is the challenge in wine, Get good at playing it. Develop the knack of pouring what's appropriate – the wine that hits the spot. Forget expertise and work on your playing skills.

With music, we begin to hear and feel it as we take the CD from its packaging. Imagine the same thing happening as you open a bottle of wine – actually feeling the experience and appropriateness of the wine. We don't need more or better Cabernet or Chardonnnay. We need for the consumer to shift attention from wine to the feeling of the experience. Only by knowing something about how a wine 'feels' can we make appropriate consumer choices and have good times. No amount of wine knowldege will do this for you.

Experience my Wine DJ philosophy in action! Have us come your home to conduct our 'Wine by Mood School' with ten or more of your friends. See the Wine School section of this site.