When most people turn 21, their biggest excitement is knowing they can legally go out to the bars every weekend and have wild nights. When I turned 21, I was so excited to finally walk down the wine aisle and choose any and all bottles that I wanted to buy. I could proudly show my ID and lug my newfound treasure home where my roommate and I would try the new various colors of wine in the cute bottles with fancy writing on it. I could finally order a glass of wine when out to dinner or at a family function–God knows wine is the only thing that helps that adventure. So, here's to you, wine. A thank you for all you do.
1. Thank you for not making me look like an alcoholic when I buy more than a bottle.
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Unlike hard liquor, where you buy one bottle and people automatically assume it's time for a wild night, I can have five bottles of wine in my basket and people don't look twice. What am I going to do tonight? Have one glass and just have a stock ready for the next month? Have six glasses while binge-watching "Friends"? Have a classy wine night with my fellow wine lovers? You’ll never know because I’m just an innocent adult with my classy beverage.
2. Thank you for pairing with just about anything.
Contrary to popular belief (from wine snobs), you can actually make mixed drinks with wine. You can mix it with sprite, fruit, juice, more wine. You can also mix it with activities, like painting, hanging with your cats and even your tears.
3. Thank you for being an acceptable drink to have alone.
I’m not out to get white-girl-wasted with a vodka soda on a Wednesday looking like a party girl with a hard drink in my hand. Instead, I can sit on my couch in baggy sweatpants with a decent-sized wine glass and the bottle on the coffee table ready to refill while I watch Netflix for six hours. No shame.
4. Thank you for complementing my favorite foods: Cheese and carbs.
Give someone a cheese and cracker plate and you can only look relaxed eating and drinking them together, not like you’re just shoving your face with food (which I actually am, and washing it down with said wine).
5. Thank you for being there on holidays.
Family get-togethers can be quite an event. And a dramatic one. Every Christmas, something goes down in the house full of family members that creates unnecessary drama that I, for one, don't want to deal with. Instead, I grab the bottle of wine and pour my mom and I a full glass to sit back and watch the day unfold. At least we can hide behind it and laugh.
6. Thank you for being an "anytime" drink.
Wine is an acceptable day drink. Oh, it's noon? No worries, you're still looking classy with that salad and pasta from that restaurant who serves your favorite blend by the bottle.
7. Thank you for having a day each week dedicated to drinking wine.
Some people know Wednesday as Hump Day. Wine lovers know it as Wine Wednesday, and it's almost as good as Friday. The amount of memes that support my wine drinking just encourages me to make it a weekly tradition.
8. Thank you for bonding me and my best friend.
Being a wine connoisseur and drinker is a wonderful hobby that brings people together. There's nothing better than sitting down after a long day of work with a bottle of wine and your best friend to rant about stupidity and laugh about life.
9. Thank you for being nice to me.
What's a hangover? I wouldn’t know, wine doesn't betray you like that.
10. Thank you for providing me with an overflow of empty bottles that I can use for crafts.
You're basically saving the planet by making me recycle. You go, wine!
11. Lastly, thank you for being there.
Happy times and sad. It could be a celebration and I would want you. I could come home crying and I would still want you. You never fail me, and for that, I am forever grateful.
So here's to you, wine gods! Bring on the fermented grapes and sweet refreshing taste in those adorable bottles, big and small. Maybe my next adventure will bring me to the true wine country...Italy, are you ready for me?
