The following post is in response to a fellow wine bloggers inspiration and challenge – Check out follow, tweet, Facebook @TheWineWhore http://bit.ly/5LjxI9

Prior to 2004, I was not a wine drinker. At 32, I came across a wine that changed the course of my entire direction in life. Okay, it was actually a woman but wine was involved from the beginning. I was coming out of a 9 year relationship and she was coming out of a 14 year relationship. Expectation was strong, desire was thick, and the anticipation of when we could see each other was unbearable. It’s the kind of feeling that makes you love falling in love. At 32 I felt like I was 15 again. Finally, time and fate allowed our complicated lives to come together and we were able to meet for something other than a work related event. Hours of conversation provided me the insight that she was a wine drinker; years of chasing women taught me that you don’t show up without flowers. I stopped at the local grocery store, quickly picked out the flowers and headed to the wine section. Entering this unknown land caused panic and anxiety foreign to me. Each label brought futher confusion. White or red? California or WA? What were all these names, Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel? What did they mean? At the risk of not seeming cheap, I quickly ruled out the under $10 crowd. At the risk of overextending my recently single finances, I kept it under $20. I grabbed the bottle and hastily made my way to the checkout, to the car, up the hill, to her house.

I parked around the corner (it was complicated) and with my flowers and brown paper bag of juice, I quietly knocked on the door and entered a magical world of new experiences and passions. Over the next few years the youthful infatuation blossomed into an unbreakable soul mate kind of love. She introduced me to the beautiful, intricate, complex, and sexy world of wine. Things become les and less complicated and we moved forward with the next stage of our life. We purchased a house.

I had yet to ask her hand in marriage, but I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. The closing of our home was quickly approaching. We signed the papers and awaited the final word that everything had recorded so we could get the keys. The weeks leading up to the closing, I had devised a plan. I arranged to pick up the keys a day earlier than what was originally communicated to us. I grabbed an old bistro table, CD player, went out and bought a few new house decorations that we had our eyes on and set up a magical after dinner surprise. This time I was at the same local grocery store picking up flowers, dessert for two, and headed to the wine aisle. The last two years had taught me that my first selection was on the generic side of a mass produced wine, but I knew exactly which wine I wanted and quickly scooped it up.

We headed to dinner and then went to a local hardware store to dream and scheme about all the changes we were going to make to our house. We decided to purchase a house warming plant (a palm tree that still lives in our front room) and headed back to the apartment. I suggested we make a detour to drive by the house. We walked up to the door with our plant and I pulled out the keys to our new life. Excitedly we entered. She was at a loss for words, overcome with joy and excitement. I quickly lit the fireplace, turned on the CD I had prepared, got out the dessert and opened the ‘special’ wine. The moment was perfect as if scripted from a movie. When the CD began playing ‘our song’ I quickly got up, went to the cabinet and slipped her final surprise on the wine charm and sat down. She immediately saw the sparkle and tears began to flow. I was barely able to choke out, “Kimberly, I love you, you are my soul mate, will you marry me?”

The wine: 2002 Meridian Merlot – CA $12 – The fondest memories are not always etched with the finest of tastes, it is the whole experience that stays with us.

P.S. She said yes!

DRINK.HAPPY