Viúva Gomes, sweet revenge wine

I decided to snuggle up with my pups, turn on a movie, and open a wine from one of my favorite producers here in Portugal, Viúva Gomes, a vintage wine that I normally would never open alone due to the price and scarcity.

I know, it’s selfish. I didn’t wait for a special occasion to share it with my partner or friends. Instead, I opened it at the perfect moment for me. And between you and me, the wine slowly transformed my emotional state and point of view over the course of the ridiculous, two-hour rom-com I chose to watch. A few sips, loads of laugh-out-loud moments, a few tears, and some very resonant personal moments, and bam! I felt lighter.

Like a great read, a successful meditation, or an intense workout, fine wine can take me places and often help me change my reality, intellectually and emotionally, in the moment. Each time I picked up the glass, I remembered visiting the estate and how gorgeous the day was when we were there.

I remembered, with a smile, the charming owner who explained each cuvée he poured during our tasting, driving up slowly to his estate and taking in the splendor and beauty of all the old vines, and slowly I forgot my anger, my humiliation, my frustration, and began to feel like myself again. Like I could leave the day and my work at work.

In my experience, this psychological evolution is not just because it’s an alcoholic beverage, although don’t get me wrong, I am not denying the effects of a glass of wine on the system. What I mean is that this specific wine I’m speaking about, a light-bodied red wine, multi-layered with infinite complexity together with each new scene from the movie that made me laugh or cry, the wine, as well as my mood, changed.

The wine subtly revealed to me the year it was created, the delicate, intricate layers of its terroir, the hand of the winemaker, and his unwavering sacrifice and hard work in producing this bottle.

Needless to say, when the movie ended, I felt a weight off my chest, I’d let go of my day and was ready for a good night’s sleep.

Contrary to what you might think, I didn’t finish the bottle; I left some for my partner to enjoy the next day. Lucky him!

“Living your best life,” my partner would say, is the best revenge. To add to “living your best life,” I say open your best wine!

Perhaps you have a few wine faves you pick up or pull out from the cellar for important celebrations and moments.

I open these same wines on occasion, in spite of my day, to enjoy all to myself.

Here are my most recent sweet revenge wines:

Coche by Niepoort, Douro, Branco, 2015 – €59

António Maçanita, Tinta Carvalha, Alentejo Tinto 2023 – €36

Viúva Gomes, Ramisco de Colares, Tinto 2017 – €62.45

I encourage you to buy that one wine that speaks to you at the wine tasting, wine bar, or wine shop. The one that blew your mind and made you gasp or sigh. The wine may seem, at the time, a little pricey and beyond your budget, but I dare you to get one and put it away for one of those times where time-traveling back to the moment you sipped it for the first time floods your body with happiness and helps you wreak sweet revenge on what was a particularly challenging day or time.

Opening that unique bottle, with a wonderful memory attached to it, is also a celebratory sip to congratulate ourselves on making it to the “other side”.

Please share with me your chosen “sweet revenge” wine!

Candace Olsen is a sommelier, fine wine consultant, wine educator, and wine writer.

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Read more from Candace Olsen’s about wine: BiB – What is a wine sack?