On 21...

The day arrives.

This post and the following thoughts are a long time coming..

The law of 21 has haunted my life for the past three years, and the experiences missed unable to be repeated.

The tasting of 100's of beers, wines, liquors, in the various restaurants that I have worked and traveled to throughout the United States. This is my profession, the food and beverage industry, and pairing thereof, and for the past three years the tastes and pairing I have missed have been detrimental to the furthering of my palate and education.

To say that I harvest and produced wine in France, and travel back to the United States and cannot purchase or have an ounce of that wine, is mind blowing.

What happens when midnight strikes this evening, is a switch changing physically inside of me, a maturity suddenly found? In my various travels throughout Europe, not once was I carded in the six plus countries I visited. What does that say of our society, where with one ounce of alcohol in my system or possession I could be thrown in jail?

I can agree with consumption comes maturity and responsibility. I can agree that alcohol is best left out of high schools and the hands thereof.

I'm not asking for 16, 17, or 18. I can agree that European societies are quite different than ours. But why not 19? Or 20?

What are we doing with the blind eye to the act of binge drinking throughout college campuses across the country? To the kids thrown in jail for possession or consumption responsibly of alcohol, who may not be 21 yet, but are acting responsibly.

This all comes from a soon to be 21 year old whom on my birthday tomorrow and the following days, will choose to consume 1991 wines drank with delicious foods: Riesling, Gran Reserva Tempranillo and Alsacian Muscat. Not shots, upon shots.

Just some thoughts to think about.