Yahoo Sports Dear Richard Madeley: ‘My husband's enthusiasm for wine tasting is becoming an obsession’
Dear Richard,
This summer for the third year running we are staying in a beautiful farmhouse near Avignon, which friends have restored and now rent to us at mates’ rates. Inevitably a certain amount of vineyard-visiting takes place, and I am completely on board with that.
However my husband’s enthusiasm for the wines of the Rhône shows signs of turning into a nerdish obsession – he’s been reading up and goes all misty-eyed as he itemises the wineries we need to visit. I am happy enough to devote some of our holiday to this but not to spend nearly every day schlepping from one dusty cellar door to the next, inevitably promoted to designated driver as the wine tastings accumulate.
Can you suggest any practical measures to keep this activity to a reasonable level, so we get to enjoy our holiday?
— Ruth, via telegraph.co.uk
Dear Ruth,
Yes, I can. Tell him straight it’s as much your holiday as it is his! He has no right to expect you to traipse after him on a protracted programme of vineyard visits.
I don’t know how many days you’re planning to be away, but I’d suggest dividing the total by three, and allowing him around a third of that time to cruise around the local cellars.
If he insists on more, then tell him he can go on his own (and drive himself) while you laze on the terrace or by the pool, or do whatever else takes your fancy.
Unless couples share a unified passion for a joint interest or hobby, holidays are all about the art of compromise.
You need to get your own happy medium negotiated, agreed and mutually signed off well before you arrive in Avignon, Ruth. Don’t let this holiday turn into your own version of The Grapes of Wrath.
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