Go ahead, risk it

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with drinking in the daytime,” I said out loud, in part to convince myself.

I come from a long line of teetotalers who often let the unfinished bottle of holiday wine turn to vinegar by summer. But there was the issue of lunch at the classy French restaurant La Cachette with my friend Joe the Beneficent, a businessman, patron of the arts and wine collector. He had dug deep into his cellar for two marvelous half bottles.

One was a 1981 Chateau Margaux Premier Grand Cru, the other, a 1985 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. I had no idea how nice these bottles of red Bordeaux were until I spotted them under lock and key at the wine store.

Somehow, drinking in the daytime becomes not naughty if you’re having fine French wine at a fine French restaurant with caviar, smoked fish and chocolate volcano cake. It’s sort of like skipping school to catch the opera. It cancels the taboo.

That doesn’t mean it’s not fun. That’s exactly the point. If you can’t learn to appreciate wine in the proper setting, you might as well let your cellar turn to vinegar. Here, the setting is all sunshiny Provence, with cheery yellow decor, huge fresh bouquets and silky slipcovers. Businessmen in bespoke suits and lunching ladies in cashmere shawls aren’t hurrying to catch a meeting. They’re enjoying the moment.

As do we. Lunch with two half bottles of exceptional wine becomes an event. The gentlemen at the next table offer to trade their foie gras for our wine. They look thirsty and curious.

“There’s an aura about half bottles,” said Joe the Beneficent as he poured a glassful into the Spiegelau stemware. The label and the contents are the same as full-size, but in half bottles, they’re perfectly proportioned for sensible sharing.

“If you drink a good bottle of wine by yourself,” said Joe, “it’s not as good as a mediocre bottle with friends. That’s what makes having wine at lunch or dinner wonderful. It’s not the same at home. You need more than taste to enjoy wine. You need ambience. Occasion. Stuff like that.”

Just as well that there is still a taboo attached to the three-martini lunch, a ritual that is about the alcohol, not the event.

“The whole experience can’t be attached to a martini,” said Joe. “A martini is a commodity. There’s no emotion attached. There’s an element of risk in drinking wine -- risk in what you get, risk in how it’s accepted, risk in wanting it to match expectations.” He should know.

“I bought a 51-year-old Barolo. One of my friends said it wasn’t good. Sure, it was a little off. It was a little orange. OK, it was really orange. But I drank it because I wanted it to be good. How can you say that 51 years of life doesn’t count? I’m drinking it!”

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La Cachette

Where: 10506 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles

When: Noon to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 6 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 6 to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 6 to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Cost: Wines by the half bottle, $24 to $175; by the bottle, $55 to $1,200; corkage, $25 (waived on Sundays).

Info: (310) 470-2510, www.lacachetterestaurant.com