Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Tasting Wine and Snoring: The Non-smoking Edition

Two months into nicotine sobriety I can report that among the side effects that come with a cigarette free existence is a palate with heightened sensitivity. However, I can't say how heightened my sensitivity is to a wine's attributes and  characteristics. I can only say that it is heightened.

Perhaps without a layer of smoke and tar covering the inside of my mouth I am 40% more sensitive to taste, smell and texture. Perhaps it is only 20%.

The big question, however, is this: Do I enjoy wine more than I did when I accompanied each sip with a shellacking of smoky goodness?

This is an important question to me. I do like wine. I have since I was legally too young to drink it. But the moment in time when I liked wine the most, when I enjoyed the drinking experience most, was when I was tasting things I'd never tasted before, learning the fundamentals of wine's history and its component parts and when each wine I tasted helped fill up my vessel of wine experience and knowledge that was relatively empty.

Today, much less mystery exists for me where wine is concerned. And, importantly, the degree of sensitivity that has returned since stopping smoking is not so much that the drinking experiences I've recently had have been too much more enjoyable than those that came just prior to quitting that nasty, life-sucking, habitat-glazing practice of smoking.

It seems to me that the degree of joy we take from an experience is not so much only connected to our ability to use our five senses,  but rather from the actionable knowledge (of it or ourselves) that we gain from the experience. Proving once again that deflating the sensual characteristics of a 1945 Petrus by smoking cigarettes while consuming it may not lesson the real pleasure it can deliver much at all as long as the experience or knowledge connected to its consumption is primarily taken from the context in which it is consumed.

That said, for anyone wondering, since stopping for only 2 months I have indeed acquired a heightened sense of taste and smell; a greater lung capacity; an increased sense of what I'm capable of achieving and accomplishing; I've saved approximately $360; I smell better; And I'm told I don't snore quite as much.

A Bad Wine Saga Ends!

  On October 15, 2005 more than 6 million bottles of wine stored at the Wine Central Warehouse in Vallejo were destroyed when Marc Anderson, a Sausalito, California business man set fire to the warehouse in order to destroy evidence of earlier crimes.

Entire inventories of wineries productions were destroyed as almost 100 wineries kept their inventories in the warehouse. In some cases, historic library collections of important California wineries were destroyed by heat damage. For the Northern California wine industry, Anderson's self-serving, desperate act was a devastating loss.

Today, under a plea agreement involving a 19 count federal indictment, Anderson pled guilty to the crime.

Now, I don't mean to suggest that this crime of arson, because it was wine that was destroyed and because I love wine, is a particularly terrible crime. I don't mean to diminish the impact of other types of crimes where lives are taken, for example. I only mean to suggest that the 20 some odd years in prison that Anderson will likely get as a result of being convicted not only of arson but also of mail fraud and tax evasion, are simply not enough.

The problem is, I have no idea what kind of prison term would be appropriate. Luckily, I'm not a judge. If it were me, I'd probably flip a coin: Heads it's life, tails it's it only until he dies.

What was shocking about this case at the time was not just the extent of the loss as the mass loss of wine became known, but the fact that this kind of cross industry loss is not often seen in the wine industry. Sometimes we hear about trucks carrying grapes tipping over on the highway. Sometimes we hear about tankers with wine crashing spilling 1000s of gallons of wine onto the highway. And occasionally you hear about a fire at a winery. You just don't' hear about 6 million bottles of wlne being destroyed.

In any case, we'll not hear much more about this story. Anderson pled guilty, he'll go to jail and the wineries that lost so much have plodded forward and done what they had to.

I just hope that those who did lose so much of what they had worked so hard to produce and preserve gain a little bit of solace from the fact that for the next 20 years Anderson will spend time sharing a shower and soap with some of the nicest guys in California. But I doubt it.

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QUITTING SMOKING UPDATE—DAY 23

There's no question about it, I'm on the downslope of working through the cravings and oral fixation that has been so difficult to deal with over the past 3 weeks. Today the occasional craving to light up and inhale smoke into my lungs still over comes me. In fact, it happens at least 10 times a day. But the cravings are far less severe now and last only momentarily. In addition, when distracted, when not writing about quitting smoking but thinking about other things, I don't think about smoking at all. As I've written before, the aroma seeking nose is back. However, I'm still waiting on the flavor detecting ability of my palate to become more acute. Bottom line: with the help of drugs, patches, candy and the support of friends, readers and another very important person, I'm pretty sure I"m a non-smoker.

The Return of My Wine Sniffing Nose

A big concern of mine when I chose to stop smoking two weeks ago was that sometime about now I'd find myself balled up in the corner of my office, sitting on the floor combating withdrawals. My biggest concern was that I'd give in and start smoking again. Turns out neither of those things have happened. But something has happened on the way to Ex-smokerdom.

I got my sense of smell back. Or at least my nose's last few forays into a wine glass and into other aroma-worth venues proved to be enhanced experiences well beyond what I ad become accustomed to over the past decade or so. But what's interesting is that I don't seem to have an enhanced sense of taste back.

Now, this seems odd to me since it is the nose in combination with taste buds that deliver our sense of taste. I suppose this means that my taste buds have not recovered, or at least they are recovering at a slower pace.

Another drink-related revelation in connection with stopping smoking came the other night. I had long suspected that my appreciation for brown spirits had a great deal to do with the impact 80 or 100 proof spirits had on my palate. That is, being much stronger than wine, I was able to better appreciate them, than wine, given the diminished state of my nose and palate after 20 some odd years of smoking. It turns out that with my sniffer in better shape than ever, I am still devoted to brown spirits as much as I always was. In fact, even more.

I honestly expected that if everyone was correct, that if my sense of taste and smell was going to return, that I'd feel a new compulsion to replace my bourbon intake with more wine intake since I'd be better able to appreciate the product of the grape with my newly repaired sniffer and taster. Not so much.

Overall, the effect of stopping smoking on my intake of beverages has been an outstanding experience.

And to anyone considering stopping smoking, let me say this: The patches and pills and potions that now exist to help quell the withdrawals are really remarkable. This attempt at quitting smoking has been much easier than past attempts. I attribute this not only to my motivation, but to the wonderful drugs and drug delivery vehicles that American pharmaceutical companies have given us.

The Choices We Make

Most people understand the cost of smoking. These costs tend most often to be measured in years taken off a smokers life. For reasons I think you can understand, I prefer not to think of the costs of my 20+ years of smoking in these terms.

However, there are ways to appreciate the cost of smoking that not only I but my wine loving readers CAN appreciate: The financial outlay.

Let's assume I'm cheap and buy a pack and a half of cigarettes on a daily basis costing $4.00 per pack (and that is cheap her in California). This makes my annual outlay for smoking at $2,190.00. That number may or may not look like much to you. However, there are different ways of looking at what $2,190.00 represents to people like us:

1. Five Cases of 2006 Stony Hill Chardonnay
2. Two bottles of 1995 Chateau Petrus
3. Round-trip airfare to Paris, 7 day car rental, seven days in Bordeaux hotel
4. One VinoTemp 280-Bottle Wine Cooling Cabinet
5. Sixty one cases of Two-Buck Chuck
6. Antique Georgian Ship's Glass Wine Decanter c. 1795
7. Six Gifts of Monthly, 2-bottle Wine Club shipments
8. Two "All American Day Passes" to the Napa Valley Auction
9. 137 Shares of Constellation Brands stock
10. Two bottles of 1990 Krug Clos du Mesnil

I'm not sure which of these alternatives to purchasing 10,950 cigarettes I'd go for first. But at this point nearly all of them would do just fine.

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Quitting Smoking: Day 6 Update
I'm still a quitter. Though, I still think of myself as a smoker. That has to change. The past couple of days the cravings have gotten a bit more intense. Learning to embrace and feel the intensity of the cravings, observe them and watch them fade, giving me the strength to know I can overcome them when they return. Sleep is still not as sound as I'd like. Not too much weight gain yet. Becoming connoisseur of sunflower seeks. (prefer the larger variety).

The Wine Of My Dreams

Dreams. The kind you have when slumbering.

I can say without equivocation that one of the effects of having quit smoking so very recently is an enhanced vividness of my nighttime dreams. I know they are vivid because even now, a couple hours after waking up, I can still recall the brand, varietal and vintage of the wines that were in my dream last night. This is for me, to say the least, unusual.

1997 Peter Michael "L'apres Midi"
1990 Foppiano Vineyards Russian River Valley Petite Sirah

I cannot recall ever remembering specific wines that appeared in my dreams. In fact, I can't ever recall wine playing a role in my dreams—though this may be a function of me simply not remembering my dreams usually since wine has been a fairly important part of my life.

I've drunk both these wines in my waking life. The Peter Michael "L'Apres Midi" is a Sauvignon Blanc" that I included in a tasting two years ago when I was investigating the aging potential of California Sauvignon Blancs. If I recall it was in fact very drinkable, but did not quite live up to a Mondavi SB from the same vintage with which it was paired. Foppiano Vineyards was my first client when I entered the wine PR Business in 1990 as an associate at a PR firm. Louis Foppiano was responsible for teaching me a great deal about the producing end of the business. I had the 1990 Petite Sirah on a number of occasions and it was included in a 20 year vertical tastings of Petite Sirahs we did for the media at one point.

I don't know that having these or any wines in my dreams have any real meaning. But then again, I know less about dream interpretation than I do about astrology. Luckily for me, the Internet is the great repository of expert information:

Dreammoods.com:
To dream of drinking wine, symbolizes festivity, celebration, companionship, satisfaction and success. You are content with the way your life is going. The dream may also be a pun on "whining" and how you like to whine about things. In particular, to dream that you are drinking red wine, signifies excess and sensuality. If you are drinking communion wine in your dream, then it represent some spiritual celebration or ceremony.

My Dreamvisions.com
If you dream that you are drinking alcohol, consider your feelings during the dream. Drinking can represent:
-A desire to numb-out and escape a problem or situation
-A desire to feel more relaxed or more interactive with others
-A desire to be accepted or go along with the crowd, especially to the detriment of yourself or your integrity
-Boredom or the need for more fun or excitement in your real life in general (totally separate from actual alcohol)

10,000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustave Hindman Miller
-To dream of drinking wine, forebodes joy and consequent friendships.
-To dream of breaking bottles of wine, foretells that your love and passion will border on excess.
-To see barrels of wine, prognosticates great luxury. To pour it from one vessel into another, signifies that your enjoyments will be varied and you will journey to many notable places.
-To dream of dealing in wine denotes that your occupation will be remunerative.
-For a young woman to dream of drinking wine, indicates she will marry a wealthy gentleman, but withal honorable.

At some point in my life I'm going to have to investigate the origin of dream interpretations; I'm going to have to investigate what must be a fascinating subject: how dream professionals can place such specific meanings on symbols, things and places that wind up in peoples dreams.

For now, I merely find it interesting that upon stopping smoking my dreams have become so vivid in every way, including allowing me to recall two specific wines that were in my dream and the specific setting where they appeared.

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Quitting Smoking: Day 4 Update
Cravings are still with me, but appear to be less intense than yesterday when upon finishing a meal the only thing I could think of was smoking. The distraction was so intense that it took me a minute to figure out that the reason I could not open my car door was because it wasn't actually my car i was trying to open. All in all, however, the cravings seem much less at this moment. No wheezing, either. And I can clearly take deeper breaths. The oral fixation remains with me and I'm starting to think that if it is going to be around for some time I'll need to figure out something to quell it with besides hard candy.

The Coming Taste of Wine

Over the years there were some people who, upon learning that I was a smoker, became very interested in getting me to quit. When they learned I worked in the wine business, they almost inevitably crafted a "stop smoking argument" that looked like this:

"Tom, you're in the wine business and really NEED to be able to taste and evaluate wine. How can you do that when you are layering smoke over your palate. If you quit, just imagine how much more sensitive your palate will be. Just imagine how much more you will get out of the wines you are tasting"

It's not a bad argument, but honestly my first reaction to it was, "hey, I can taste wine with the best of them. There's nothing wrong with my palate." The fact is, the most acutely sensitive part of my palate has always been its reaction to textures. I have long made determinations about wines based on the texture they deliver. Thinking about it now, this may be because my sense of smell and taste have been dulled by Pall Mall Light 100s.

That said, the anticipation that I will be opened up to a new world of taste sensations upon quitting smoking is a very strong motivator as I work through this transition from smoker to non-smoker. Unfortunately, by all accounts I'm going to have to work through a few other things first. Experts tell me that I'll experience the following:

1. Weight Gain
It's a result of feeding the oral fixation and, they say, the fact that foods now taste so good. I really don't want to gain weight.

2. Constipation
Wonderful!! Apparently, nicotine has a laxative effect.They say its a temporary condition. But that's all I'm going to write about this.

3. Withdrawal Symptoms
Yep. They nailed that one.

4. Irritability
I'm told I should avoid stressful situations for a couple weeks. Otherwise those close to me will be exposed to a touchy disposition.

5. Insomnia
A little bit of this has already kicked in. But there are good drugs for this, so I'm not worried.

After the constipation and irritability are gone, I should be in a good position to start to evaluate whether a smoke-free palate is indeed a better palate. As I type, I'm formulating a plan whereby I can test the idea that food and drink will taste better and be more intense once the smoke and nicotine no longer inhibit communication between my taste buds and my brain. I'm imagining putting wines of supposedly complex flavors in front of me and pairing them with foods that are said to both contrast and compliment the wines. I'll need to rely on palate memory to determine if there is a real difference.

I'm looking forward to this experiment

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Quitting Smoking: Day 3 Update
The mind still imagines a cigarette between my lips and smoke rushing into my lungs. These are real, vivid images that turn into compulsions as quickly as the snap of the finger. Have consumed two small lollipops already this morning in fighting off these desires. Regular and very deep breaths help too, as does the consumption of copious amounts of water. So far, concentration is good this morning. Need distractions. Good ones. Really good ones.

Wine Tools and Otherwise

The implements and tools associated with the simple act of drinking wine are so varied and so numerous, you'd think it a complicated thing, when in fact, it's merely a matter of opening a package, pouring a liquid into a vessel and lifting that vessel to one's lips. A simple corkscrew will do. A glass of any kind will hold the wine. And any functioning mouth and throat will deliver the wine to its destination.

Still we apparently need 600 different kinds of corkscrews. We need different glasses for every different kind of wine. We need stain resistant drinking shirts. We need aerators to assure the wine is properly jostled before being poured into the glass. We need a secondary vessel to pour the wine into before pouring into the glass.

To get a real sense of the varied implements that have been developed for the simple act of consuming a liquid, go take a look at Wine Enthusiast's Catalog and at the IWA site. 

I couldn't help reflecting on these tools for drinking as I put together the appropriate collection of tools necessary for the simple act of not putting a cigarette in my mouth and smoke into my lungs.

This too is a pretty simple act isn't it. In fact, it amounts to doing nothing at all. And yet, as you can see, the various things I've collected that will help me do nothing are really amazing. To say the least, I'm armed for the non-smoking battle:

Sunflower Seeds
Candy Cigarettes
Altoid mints
Life Savors of various types
Tic Tacs
Nicoderm Nicotine Patches
Chewing Gums
Various lollypops
Fruits of various type
Anti-depressant Budeprion.

Clearly we are dealing here with more than a nicotine addiction. There's  also an oral fixation of 25 some odd years to overcome.

The implements of wine drinking are far more fun to display and use than the implements that go into stopping smoking. That much I know at this point. However, If anyone needs any hard candies, I'm your man.

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DAY 2 UPDATE
The feeling of a tightening of the chest is severe. I'm also very twitchy and not a little hyper. It's hard to sit behind my desk. Powers of concentration are lessoned but have not completely left me. Concentrating on activities of any kind help dismiss cravings for a cigarette that can come and go and come and go in incredibly severe ways. Steps are being taken to rid my home of all aspects of smoking, including a complete cleaning of the office and the installation of pumpkin scented candles. I have enormous thanks to give for the desmokification of my home. And they will be getting those thanks!!

God Bless Those of Mighty Wills

For 28 years my sensual relationship with wine has been marred by a self inflicted handicap. I smoked. Cigarettes, Cigars, and Pipes.

Not any more.

Yesterday at 8am I stopped smoking.

I've done this before. Successfully too. I've successfully stopped smoking four different times....The joke is old isn't it? So has the smelly clothes, ashy desk, bad breath, sneaking out of events to secretly smoke, offending friends and lovers, and shortening my life become old.

This won't be easy. That's why I'm corralling my readers to go along for the ride. Share the pain, if you will. See, here's how I look at it. Being someone who has a certain aversion to both embarrassment and failure, I figure If I'm relating what this process is like to my readers, then there will be a a greater motivation for me to be truly successful this time: You all will know what I'm doing, how I'm doing, whether I'm succeeding..and whether or not I fail.

So,what's it like to quit smoking?

Imagine you are asked to take 2/3 less breaths when you breath. Imagine when you inhale oxygen, you require of yourself that your breaths delivers only 1/3 the oxygen to your lungs than they did the day before. Think about this. Imagine this.

After a while, and it won't be a long while, you are gong to CRAVE oxygen. After a few hours of this self deprivation your chest is going to get tight. Your skin is gong to get tingly. Oh, you'll survive. You'll live. But you'll probably spend your waking hours thinking about those breaths you no longer have; thinking about that oxygen you no longer get to have in your lungs. Odds are after a while of this, maybe 2 days or even two weeks, you'll give in and inhale that luscious, creamy, brain stimulating oxygen, because it feels so damn good in your lungs. Eventually, the pain caused by the deprivation will tighten your chest just enough, will cause enough anxiety, and will distrupt your concentration just enough that you'll say, "screw it!" and take in that extra breath.

That's what its like to stop smoking.

I imagine that an alcoholic trying to stop drinking experiences something similar. I've been blessed with only possessing one real addiction in my life, so I can't say with any first hand experience what stopping drinking is like. But if I'm right and if it is like stopping smoking, then you can be sure that my own measure of empathy for alcoholics has increased.

Why stop now? There is one good reason: The pain of quitting can't possibly be as bad as the pain and consequences of not quitting. It's a simple equation that only very recently was driven home by events and circumstances.

I've got some help with this in the form of patches and pills. And my motivation for stopping this time seems mightier than it has ever been before. I'm smarter today than I was the last time I stopped smoking too. All this bodes well for me. But something else has changed. I've decided to do this in front of an audience.

This means that if you read FERMENTATION on a daily basis, then you will read what I'm doing about staying smoke free, what I'm feeling as I experience a smoke free life, and what it feels like to move from horrific withdrawals to what I know will eventually be a more even keel. This won't replace my ruminations on wine and politics and culture. But for a while it will augment it. 

So, as I hit the "publish" button on this post, I am smoke free for 24 hours.

God Bless those of mighty wills!