The most unwelcome guest of all

I met Chris, one of the four regular readers of this blog at our company holiday party and because of my past postings, he immediately asked me what I thought of the French Laundry, considered by many critics to be the best restaurant in northern Calif and possibly the West Coast. I said it was good and it was fun but it wasn't great. Chris, a fellow foodie, had also been there and agreed it was nice but not awe inspiring. And we both agreed that it was unlikely we would have been wowed, because expectations were too high.

Expectation. The most unwelcome guest of all. Little good and much unhappiness has come about because it. Countless wonderful meals and wines have been ruined because of it. And it isn't just restricted to food and wine. It is the most general of destroyers. It is widely known the key to happiness is lowered expectations.

And this is so so true when it comes to fine dining, including wine and eating out. How often has a much anticipated, superbly rate meal been spectacular? For me, almost never. How can it? The bar is too high. Unless they give me the Nobel Prize for something after the appetizer, I'm likely be to midly disappointed.

In wine, the worst is an expensive, exalted wine I have kept for years that I only have a single bottle of. It is pretty much a guarantee I'll be grandly disappointed. And I already have the perfect bottle in mind for this bleak occasion. It was the Wine Spectator #1 a bit back and I have exactly one. It's not ready yet, but when it is, oh the let down should be exquisite.

I have abandoned buying more expensive (and hence even more highly rated) bottles largely for this reason . I rarely enjoy them more. How could I, under such pressure? Back in 2005, my happiest score range was 88-89. It indirectly meant the wine was affordable, it was very good and I didn't have any expectation. Back then, a 92+ pointer was death; I never enjoyed these expectation ladened wines.

The keys to banishing expectation? Any of the following will do.

1. Keep the price in reason. Whatever your normal price point is, be it $7, $12, $20 (me), $35 or $80, it's hard to get worked up over a normal bottle. And when the price is reasonable, you can also ...
   
2. Buy more than one bottle of it. Nothing calms expectation like having a second or third bottle. If it is great, there's another, which is of course ruined by the expectation from the first bottle. Of course every so often the last bottle alone is spectacular, but here expectation wasn't the issue.
3. Don't let some high score get to you... This is easy; know little to nothing about the bottle or don't be a score whore. Which I am. And the problem occurs when I try something so highly rated that it is a once a year event, I can't suppress expectation.
   

Now I keep to a steady flow of sub $20 wines with an occasional $28 bottle thrown in. Truly fabulous wines at that. With expectation in check. With global wine quality at an all-time high, 90-91 pointers are my new relaxed zone. And 92 points? It's no longer a huge deal. Though most of the time I'm still mildly disappointed. E.g. I had the 92 point Norton 2006 Privada Mendoza ($20) today. It opened up after an hour and had nice red fruit with spice but it was only a 90 in my book. Which is fine, since I have another bottle. And I'm sure to try some even better wines this holiday season.