Drink Charitably!

I have a bit of a ritual as I sit down to do my winery’s accounting.  You see, Humanitas is a small winery operation with the bonded premises based out of my house in Napa.  My office is upstairs in the loft of my house & I share the space with our air hockey table, doll house, TV and a host of other ‘family’ things.  My ritual is to head upstairs after the kids are in bed or off doing homework, slip on the earbuds, tune into Pandora, and fire up the Quickbooks with a glass of wine.

I am a big believer that the situation in which you enjoy wine impacts how that wine tastes.  I write often about the influence of music on wine, or how the wine tastes with different people…and I rarely write about wine pairing with food.  To me, that is a given — the other pairings of people, music, movies, weather, situations, etc. is a bit more fun…and I’m not that good writing about food.

It struck me the other night how well certain of my wines (and others!) taste when I’m doing the books…and how certain areas of the books taste better with different wines.  That’s right — I find that my oak-free Chardonnay is delightful when I’m doing accounts receivable, but it doesn’t taste as good when I’m doing payables.  That part is so much less enjoyable and the bright, crisp Chardonnay just doesn’t stand up to it.  The Paso Robles Cab, on the other hand, seems to fit that bill beautifully.  And my new ‘Gap’s Crown’ Pinot Noir is just delightful when running my P&L’s, but not as tasty when I’m reconciling my bank statements. 

Call me crazy but this sensory pairing of wine & the books really works.  And I encourage you to try it — well, in moderation of course.  Otherwise the financial issues may become a little too creative. 

Let me know if you have some favorite ‘odd’ pairings — I’m aways looking for something new.  And don’t be afraid to open some of your ‘liquid assets’ while doing your bookkeeping — it sure makes the job more enjoyable!  As always…drink charitably!