My Experience with Wine

Howdy folks! This is my first entry in my wine blog for the semester, as such I want to impart my experiences and knowledge as it stands on the subject. Wine culture is something I, as well as much of my peers, believe is something reserved solely for the sophisticated. I recognize those who regularly drink wine as typically a privileged or mature individual, I don't know where this perception came from but it is something ingrained in my thoughts. There is a particular mystique that revolves around wine-drinking and I am certainly interested in incorporating this activity in my social life.

 At this point in my life, I have drank wine very sparingly due to the fact that I had no interest in trying it. I am much like others my age in that, it almost seems pretentious to be seen consuming such a beverage in a social setting that typically involves binge drinking with cheap beer and liquors. When I have drank wine in the past, it has been either for sacramental purposes in church, during holiday dinners with family and friends, and tasting it when friends happen to open a bottle (which is rare). I do recall one occasion summer of 2011, my best friend Ryan's older sister was getting married and had an open bar (it got out of hand). Every table at the reception had a bottle of wine to take home, sure enough my friends and I took full advantage of this and each had a bottle of wine in hand on the way back to the hotel (Wedding Crashers-esque). I remember the taste was rich and made my mouth dry, but I could not stop drinking because it was so good! I usually never had more than a few sips of wine before this night, and it definitely changed my initial perception.

As I said earlier, wine was never a part of my drinking repertoire and my parents already had an acquired taste for it, so the wines I tasted through them were bitter and I did not enjoy it. Obviously, being that wine, like beer, is something that you need to ease into. I recently began drinking dark, rich beers and ales because my palate has grown over time to reject watery and tasteless beer. I like the fruity and citrus-heavy wines because they are easy to drink and I cannot enjoy anything beyond that just yet. This type of wine is typically cheap to buy because I have dated girls who enjoy this type of wine and it fits any budget (especially a college student).

I hope to take an extensive knowledge of wine and viticulture because I highly respect those who do. Being able to speak intellectually with another wine connoisseur at a dinner party, wine tasting, restaurants, or even a vineyard. I hope that this class sparks me to try something new and really immerse myself into the world of wine and the joys it brings. This class was something I was looking forward to take with my friends because it gives us all a chance to experience something profound to change our social lives together and experiment with wine. I also hope to partake in sharing a bottle with Prof. Boyer himself before I graduate.