Joyce had been thinking about Kevin’s 40th for months. She wanted to do something at their home in Chelmsford, Essex, that felt a bit more interesting than another birthday dinner out. Kevin had always been much more of a beer man than a wine person, which, if anything, made the tasting idea more appealing.
Joyce invited four other couples, so there were ten of them altogether, and booked Wine Night In for the evening. She asked Jonny for three reds and three whites, but there was one thing she was quite clear about. Kevin would enjoy getting into the detail, but she did not want anyone else around the table feeling like they needed to know loads about wine.
That was easy enough.
LazeeGraze charcuterie boards were ordered to go alongside the wines, everyone settled in, and it did not take long for the competitive side of the group to appear. Five couples who know each other that well already come with plenty of banter. Add a tasting game and suddenly people care a lot more about being right than they probably should.
Kevin was enjoying himself, although he did not admit that straight away.
About halfway through the evening, he caught Jonny for a quick word and said he genuinely had not expected to like the tasting as much as he did. He had always thought of himself as the bloke who would order a beer and leave everyone else to worry about the wine.
Then the Marchese di Borgosole Salice Salentino Riserva came out.
That changed things a bit.
By the end of the night, Kevin was leading the conversation about it with more confidence than anyone else around the table. Joyce caught Jonny’s eye from across the room and mouthed, “I knew it.”
Probably fair enough.
The nice thing was that nobody had tried to turn Kevin into a wine expert. He had just found something he liked, started asking questions and got more interested as the evening went on. That is usually all it takes.
The following week, Kevin ordered a case of the Marchese di Borgosole Salice Salentino Riserva.
Joyce pointed out that in twenty years together, it was the first time he had ever voluntarily bought a case of red wine.
For Kevin’s 40th birthday in Chelmsford, Essex, that felt like a pretty good result. Joyce wanted an evening that would surprise him and give their friends something different to do together. By the end of it, Kevin had gone from wondering whether wine tasting was really his thing to working out which red he wanted twelve more bottles of.
