I remember as a kid hearing the story about social networking – in my head it went something like “if I tell two people, and then each of those people tell two people and each of those people tell . . . “ and so on. I always assumed it was from a famous philosopher like Socrates or Plato. It turns out it was from a Faberge shampoo commercial, which was a bit surprising. Before I get sidetracked (again), I recall being impressed at the time how quickly the number of people being told expanded, a lesson both in mathematics and contagion, though the latter didn’t really kick in until I had kids myself. Anyhoo, I bring this up because I feel like I have been an unwitting participant in this phenomenon over the last year or two. Let me explain.

For the past two and a half years, Mrs. Chump and I have been avidly watching Formula 1 racing. This in itself is not remarkable, given the millions of people around the world who also avidly watch Formula 1 racing. However, if you know me well, or honestly even just a little bit, you will know that I, one, know nothing about cars and two, have no interest in cars whatsoever. My only interest in them consists of wanting a butt-warmer, a good radio and good gas mileage. Anything else is wasted on me. Not exactly the target audience for a sport that . . . checks notes . . . is all about cars. However, in the summer of 2022, my interests were about to change. I just didn’t know it. You see, in August of 2022, two of my daughters began their freshman year at James Madison University. One of their roommates, by chance (as you probably guessed) was an F1 fan. Over the course of that first year, Lara (said roommate) shared her F1 fascinations with my daughter, who in turn shared them with sister. It took a little bit for them to catch the bug, but by the end of their sophomore year, they were not only fully infected, but contagious as well. They came home from school all excited that their favorite driver, Lando Norris, had just won his first race in Miami and begging us to watch the next race. Being the supportive parents that we are, we agreed and next thing we knew, we were watching amazing shots of super-yachts docked in Monaco, rooting for some guy named Charles Leclerc and asking a ton of questions. The rest, as they say, is history. Two weeks later, on the drive back from my eldest daughter’s graduation from Stony Brook University, they had her hooked as well. These days, F1 Grands Prix are must-see tv in our household. The build up over the weekend, starting with the practices, followed by qualifying and culminating with the actual race on Sunday. The adrenaline rush of “Lights out and away we go!”. We caught the bug enough that we attended our first F1 race in Miami last May. And now we are doing our part to tell “our two people”, as the commercial goes. We each have passed on the F1 bug to multiple acquaintances, some of whom have caught the bug themselves, others who proved immune. But I do think that it is pretty cool that one person sharing their interest has spread to so many more people within our circles. So thank you Lara.

Once again, I can hear you asking (probably quite loudly this time) – “I’m glad you found a new hobby Don. But do you have a point with all this shampoo and car racing talk?”  For once, I actually do. Or at least I think I do. When our daughters came back from school full of excitement about their new interest, Mrs. Chump and I, despite all of our better instincts, gave it a chance. I had zero interest in car racing at that point. But their enthusiasm was contagious and having them nearby to explain what we were watching helped to draw us in to a new activity we would have never tried on our own. So my point is, next time one of your friends/relatives begins talking about a new interest of theirs, maybe it is worth your time to them more than just a listen, even if on the surface it doesn’t seem to line up with what you think you like.

So what does this have to do with wine? Great question. Well, if I am honest, it is an ok question. I’ve heard better. But it is a question, nonetheless. And the answer is kind of the same. It is a great big wine world out there. In addition to there being a tremendous number of different varietals, there are an ever-increasing number of regions growing wine, all of which have different combinations of varietals and terroir. While it is easy to fall into the comfortable habit of selecting your favorite varietal from your favorite region, re-imagine the excitement of discovering a new varietal or a favorite varietal from a new region. And with that said, this week’s wine was a new varietal for me not so long ago. So welcome to the stage Grüner Veltliner!  Grüner Veltliner is Austria’s most famous grape, occupying over 30% of all vineyards. It is a white wine, known for being crisp with white pepper, green apple and citrus notes. And so it is with this week’s Wine of the Week, Geyerhof Gruner Veltliner Steinleithn. With beautiful aromatics of apricot and pear, it transitions on the palate to the citrus notes previously mentioned, particularly lemon and lime with some minerality as well. As the weather warms up, you can count on this bottle to be as refreshing as a spring breeze. At a price between $30-$40, it is a great value.

It’s a great big world out there with a lot to explore. Take a chance and maybe find something different you wouldn’t have found on your own. And while you are at it, try that new wine. After all, wine not?

Wine Stat Sheet