A Sip And A Thought: The Wines of My Youth

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX -- We all have a relationship with wine. Whether we drink it or not, it’s still an association. My first taste was just a small touch of my grandfather’s muscadine white wine, which someone had made from his old recipe, but the maker didn’t put enough sugar in it for my taste. I was only six at the time, so it put me off the vino for a while, not that I was looking for it. My next opportunity came when I was an altar boy. I was exposed to the wine, yes, but as a twelve year old, I did drink it, but it was so weak, I didn’t think much of it. Plus I didn’t make a habit of it. I remember one time, when a priest walked in after I took a sip, but the refrigerator door shielded me on the downward stroke, which was my closest to being nabbed. And just for the record, I was never abused. My high school days before I got my vehicle, I’d hang out with some people down the street who had cars. MD 20/20, had to come into play somewhere, and this is its short play. One thing I never did was read the label, since we all called it Mad Dog, thinking it was made out of the tub of some guy in the hood. We knew of the 20 ounce 20 percent alcohol, and that it had its sweet fruit punch taste, which was drinkable, and most importantly cheap. I never knew that Mogen David produced it for the college market, and beyond that migrated to their student underlings in secondary school.

I’m not glamourising pre-adult consumption, but it was a way of growing up back in the 80’s. I didn’t smoke, or do drugs. The understanding with my parents was, yeah, you can drink, but do it responsibly. Moderation is key. Especially, if you don’t want your van keys taken away. For the rest of high school it was wine coolers, and some beer every once in a while. And I made judgment calls, whether to drive home, or just sleep in bed in the back of the van until it was safe to drive. My parents knew I was exposed to alcohol, but they trusted me, and I didn’t want to break their confidence.

I’ve written before, I was still 18 when I arrived in West Germany as a young soldier. For a while wine was off the menu, and the local beer, Licher, was a mainstay. I still chuckle at the thought of my first hail and farewell, when I mixed Licher and Ouzo, a clear anise, or licorice type flavored liquor, that was shipped in from Greece. The next morning, I remember throwing up on a Sergeant Majors yard, while walking to work. The SGM called his entire staff over to his office window to take schadenfreude in my mishap. They laughed and laughed at my expense. It’s funny now that it has been decades since, but it was a little embarrassing back in the day. And as I adjusted to life, and started venturing off base, beginning to make German friends in the nearby town. It was during a local festival, I met a German woman who had been an exchange student at Memorial High School just off Interstate 10 in Houston, and we kinda hit it off. She started introducing me to German wines.

My first was a Moselland Riesling Rheinhessen, commonly known as Black Cat, because it had a Black Cat Wine Tag Charm that was hung around the neck of the bottle. Between 18-25, I had five or six handfuls of those charms, but when I returned to the states, I only grabbed one. Nowadays on Etsy, those charms are sold at $15 each. BC is a white wine with 10% ABV, Black Cat suited my young palate, with its semi-sweet, medium-bodied, slightly acidic profile. Incredibly, Black Cat is available in Montgomery County, but the days of the charm are gone, instead the bottle is shaped in the actual shape of a black cat, and is sold at 500ml per bottle to remain competitive with the price points of the 750mls. On the nose, I enjoyed the familiar bouquet of apple, pears, and lemon; while on the palate, I remember it being a bit drier, but palates change over decades, and the finish of yesteryear has softened into a long and refreshing sweetened finish. I can tell that now, as opposed to it as back in the day. I remember that the lady that I was with at the time, her flat offered an inviting view of the German countryside. She would serve the Black Cat with a Handkasse, or hand cheese, baklava, or fruit slices.

I fell further in love with the wine on my first trip along the river during a Rhein in Flammen, or Rhein in Flames event, where you take a boat trip on the river when fires are lit on the shores, fireworks are displayed, and the ships are brilliantly lit as they make their way down the waterway. With the right person it's a most enjoyable evening, and has been known to rekindle failing romances. Of course, the people along the shore were just as excited to see the boats. I mostly enjoy the Moselland Riesling as a cheese and dessert wine, but it pairs well with chicken as well as roasted veggies.

Some years later in Germany, I ran across another wine, Imiglykos White, a sweet wine, 11% ABV, made from the Greek Muscat grape, which has many varieties in Europe, but the color reminded me of the wild mature Muscadine green grapes my Grandfather would pick to make his batches. I put two and two together, and brought a bottle at an imbiss stand near my base. My grandfather passed away in 1982, so the find had a great meaning to me. It’s obvious that the Greek Muscat grape and the American Muscadine grape are distant cousins, and enjoying something that reminded me of my grandpa, far from Texas, gave me great solace. The first touch of sweetness with my first sip, the berry aromas, and of course the hints of the jams that my grandmother made from the remains of the wild harvest, were very special. I remember pairing it with a German crisp and sweet bread, sort of like a Melba toast, and would top it with a pear marmalade sweetened with a little of the wine. Absolute Heaven. And on those cooler Summer nights as fall lurked in the shadows, I’d wish time could stand still. I lived in the Friedberg Castle at the time, and loved to just sit on a rampart, sip, people watch, or chat with whoever was visiting. I stayed there until I had to leave for Operation Desert Shield.

You know with everything that has happened in my life, and I’m still relatively young. It’s hard to believe I’ve lived it. I’m not a superhero or James Bond or anything like that, some may say, but I for sure don’t. I took risks, yes, but for me I needed some occasional excitement. But being able to relay it to you; and to someone who may say, “I’ve lived an uneventful life.” You haven’t. It’s important to be with people, maintain good relationships, and enjoy a great glass of wine with someone every once in a while. If you are lonely, make friends. If you need to communicate with someone, my email is right there. Heck, I’ll even bring the wine. Life is too short to say it's not worth living. It is!

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net