The pursuit of wine appreciation may eventually result in your becoming a full fledged oenophile, a.k.a. a wine enthusiast. Along the way there are various defining moments that clearly hint at your arrival. In no particular order of importance or weighting, they are as follows:

* When eating out with others you always end up with the wine list.

* When you own wine glasses that must be washed and dried by hand.

* When you routinely ask restaurant food servers to chill your red wine.

* When you take stemware to 49er tailgate parties and/or to picnics.

* When surfing wine forums precedes getting out of your pajamas.

* When you know the corkage charges of all restaurants you patronize.

* When in the morning shower you’re mulling over wines for dinner.

* When you’re asked, no matter the circumstances, “Is this wine good?”

* When your Internet I.D. and/or password have a reference to wine.

* When you know the first names of all the staff where you buy wine.

* When you’re still sniffing the first glass, everyone else is already drinking their second glass.

* When your “special occasion” wines end up being “daily drinkers.”

* When you have at least three or more of each of the following: corkscrews and bottle openers, wine bottle coasters, BYO bag totes, crystal decanters.

* When you drink a glass of Sauvignon Blanc at 10 AM with your frittata.

* When dinner guests bring anything but wine as a dinner gift.

Of course, none of the above means your terminal. It simply means that wine, and the food that accompanies it, is a vital part of your lifestyle. And if none of the above, not even one, applies to you, then I must suggest that you have a lot of work to do.

By Tom Barras