Wine and Me

I can actually remember the first time I ever had wine. My mother, although not a frequent consumer of alcohol, would occasionally buy wine to treat herself. One particular evening in high school, after she had already opened the bottle and consumed some portion of it, I snuck a sip to taste what this world renowned beverage would taste like -- and hated it. 

After that, I didn't touch wine again until college, when I had become more accustomed to the taste of alcohol. Even then, it was mostly to take a break from drinking classics such as Natty Light or Aristocrat. My older brother had already graduated from college, and he would often tell me of how, by his senior year, he would usually be drinking wine with his friends instead of beer. I didn't understand how he could prefer wine over beer or mixed drinks, and would buy wine to feel a little bit classier and older.

Walking into the wine section at any store can be extremely overwhelming, especially for someone with almost no knowledge about the differences between the wines. The extent of my wine knowledge before this class had been the difference in taste between red and white wine, and the temperatures each would be served. I had no idea that some wines were named after grapes and others with regions. I had no idea what a chardonnay tasted like versus a cabernet sauvignon. I would always just go for Barefoot, since that seemed like an acceptable choice for college wine. My personal preference until this year had always been white wine - with my drink of choice being Barefoot Moscato. Red wine always seemed too strong and almost sour for me. However, wine drunk is one of my favorite kinds of drunks -- it just seems so much happier and lively than other drunks. Hopefully, after this class is over, I will be able to actually appreciate and understand wine. I want to be able to wow my parents and friends with my extensive wine knowledge. I want to be a wine snob!