The Cola Wars and How They Help Us Talk About Wine

The other day I was out to lunch with a friend who mentioned she had tried a wine she liked. I asked her to tell me about it, but her response was to blush and say she didn't feel comfortable. "I don't get all those flavors and stuff you do," she confessed.

Part of me was devastated. We had just shared medical secrets, family concerns and stories of heartbreak with each other, but when it comes to finding cherries or spice in a Merlot, we're suddenly no longer close?

I know that wine is wrapped in mystique—and perhaps we like that a little bit. But these days, opinions are shared everywhere: I can just as easily find a YouTube video of someone reviewing a fast-food pizza as I can find a blogger describing a dubstep song. Whenever I shop on Amazon.com, I'm amazed at how many insights people have about everything from batteries to cat toys. Why is it so hard to talk about wine?

So I told my friend that I'm sure she is in fact capable of finding the differences between two beverages, and that I could prove it. So I started talking about Coke vs. Pepsi. I told her that most people we know have tried both and have a preference between the two. I prefer Coke. Pepsi can be too sweet and flat, in my opinion. I find Coke spicier and refreshing, with even a hint of lemon peel. She started grinning.

Then she told me that when she reaches for a soda, it's Diet Coke. I nodded. I prefer Coke Zero, which I think tastes more like regular Coke and avoids the minerally, almost salty note I get in Diet Coke.

From there, we expanded beyond cola to the cherry and Tootsie Roll flavors in Dr. Pepper and the varying amounts of vanilla in different root beer brands. We all know that Sprite is different than ginger ale, and no one who's ever had a Vernors would confuse it for anything else.

Twenty minutes later, we had gone through all of the sodas we could talk about, and I switched the conversation to coffee, what our favorite drinks are and best places in town to get them. By the time I circled the conversation back to wine, she was still a little hesitant to get into too many specifics, but she told me the wine she mentioned appealed to her because it was smooth and not harsh, and even though she couldn't pick out the flavors, they tasted fresh to her.

I hope the next time I see my friend, she and I will be able to talk a little more about wine. In the meantime, I just need to find a coffee that has notes of molasses, almond praline, chocolate-covered cherries and graham-cracker crust.