Don’t Be There in the Morning When I Wake Up….

I don’t know about you but generally, I hate early mornings.

However, when I am away from my normal routine (i.e., on vacation) I tend to wake early. The only way to explain this phenomenon is to say that I feel like I am missing something.  I must get up to make the most of my day….whether it be on the beach, on a cruise ship, or in a new city. I believe that I am open to new experiences in the morning….and that my senses are awake and alive.

I have always enjoyed tasting wine in the morning – late morning. I like to sign up for the 10 or 11 am tasting. I had never really thought much about it until I read Restaurant Man by Joe Bastianich.  Let’s get this straight…Joe is a Wine Genius/God but I connected with what he said about being able to taste wine in the morning…..it is about the sense of smell…..

Ever leave a glass of wine on the nightstand?

…Yea I’ll pay your cab fare home
You can even use my best colonge
Just don’t be here in the morning when I wake up….

….from Stay with Me by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood (1971)…..see the video of the two old boys performing the song on MTV Unplugged.

The small amount of research that I found on the web regarding the sense of smell post sleep would indicate that people are generally more sensitive to smells in the morning but that our sense of smell becomes increasing sharp as the day goes on.  My sense of smell is definitely more sensitive in the morning.  The wine that was immensely enjoyed in the evening, so much so that I took one last pour to bed only to not finish it, is shockingly revolting when I first wake. I trust that I am not alone.

Given the linkage between our senses of smell and taste, I sought information from the almighty Google on the best time to taste wine.  The results offered very little.  I failed to uncover any research on the topic but did find a blog post written by Steve Heimoff “Why I taste wine at 5 pm, not 8 am”. Steve prefers to taste and drink wine in early evening, but many of those who commented indicated a preference to taste in the morning.

Wine with Breakfast?

Drinking wine in the morning…..NO…..Tasting….YES

Not for me.  By the way, Mimosas do not count as they are technically a cocktail. I like to taste wine in the morning because it allows me to remember my experience with the wine.  When I am awake and open to the world I connect with my experiences in memorable ways. As I wrote in very first blog post on Enjoy the Journey, Wine Apprentice, the connection is the basis for my passion about wine.

What do you think?

How do you connect wine to your experiences?