A Virtual Wine Course

Wine Connoisseur Patrick Alexander Holds Forth on Romance

For the past decade, local wine luminaire and author Patrick Alexander has been holding six week courses on wine appreciation at Books & Books, often tying the vino to literature.

Now, the Gables leading oenophile will take on the theme of romance for Valentine’s Day, holding forth in a special Zoom talk about the doomed lovers of history – and the wine they imbibed, where appropriate.

“We will drink wine during the presentation, but we will be talking about lovers throughout history,” says Alexander, with a focus on a dozen tragic affairs. “If I may paraphrase Tolstoy, happy relationships are all the same. It’s the unhappy ones that are interesting. These stories are a litany of broken hearts and despair, where the lovers kill themselves or each other or commit adultery.” Doomed lovers include Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere, and Anthony and Cleopatra.

While this may seem like a Valentine’s Day downer, Alexander says the spin will be positive. “Those viewers who are in romantic relationships can say, ‘At least our relationship is better than that.’ And those not in a romantic relationship can say, ‘Thank God I’m not.’”

Viewers will be advised to start the evening with a white wine (“something floral and mouth filling”) and then move to red wine (“something low in tannins”). During the evening, wine references will be discussed. So, get ready to learn about a wonderful wine from Verona, where Romeo and Juliet committed suicide.

“Love and Wine in the Time of Cholera”
Friday, Feb. 12 at 6:30 pm
Cost: $30
Sign up at 305.603.8067 or at coralgablesmuseum.org