A man went on a first date with a woman he really wanted to impress.

She was elegant, intelligent, and clearly knew a lot about food and wine.

He, on the other hand, knew that wine came in two main types: red and “the other one.”

They arrived at a nice restaurant, and the waiter handed them the wine list.

The woman smiled and said, “Why don’t you choose?”

The man panicked.

The wine list was longer than some books he had avoided reading in school.

But he wanted to look confident.

“Of course,” he said, opening the list upside down.

The waiter noticed but said nothing.

The man scanned the page and pointed randomly.

“We’ll have this one.”

“Excellent choice,” said the waiter. “The 2016 Bordeaux.”

The man nodded seriously.

“Yes. I’ve always respected the 2016s.”

His date smiled.

“Oh? What do you like about that year?”

He froze.

“Well,” he said, “2016 was a very honest year. Very… grape-forward.”

The waiter coughed.

The woman looked amused.

When the wine arrived, the waiter poured a little into the man’s glass.

The man knew this was the moment. He had seen people do this in movies.

He picked up the glass, swirled it dramatically, sniffed it, and said, “Ah yes. Notes of oak, sunshine, and financial responsibility.”

His date laughed.

The waiter asked, “Would you like to taste it, sir?”

“Absolutely.”

He took a sip, paused, and nodded.

“Very wine.”

The waiter’s face twitched.

His date smiled and said, “You don’t know anything about wine, do you?”

The man sighed.

“Not really. I once bought a bottle because the label had a castle on it.”

She laughed. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

“Because I wanted to impress you.”

“That’s actually kind of sweet.”

The man relaxed.

Then the waiter returned with the food and asked, “Sir, would you like me to pair the wine with your meal?”

The man looked confident again.

“No need,” he said. “They can sit next to each other.”