Hello, My Name is [Insert Wine Here]

My first experience with wine... hmm. I don't recall my very first encounter with wine, other than I was probably sitting at either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with my family. It was probably only a sip, or maybe I had a glass to myself with just a splash in it for a high school girl to taste. I do remember how strong and bitter it was, some kind of red, I'm not exactly sure. It was good, but wow was there rubbing alcohol in that one little sip??

Flash forward to college and I was addicted to Moscato and any kind of pink wine. Because it's my favorite color of course, so naturally it would be my favorite alcoholic beverage. If we're being honest, one too many glasses doesn't make anyone feel too good, especially with how sweet these wines were. Luckily, my soul was saved by a three week trip to Italy with my family and grandparents. Let me tell you, starting to learn about and taste wine in Italy is a luxury!

Low quality picture of a traditional Italian meal (including wine) with my family from Livorno 

We started in Rome and worked our way around to Livorno, Florence, Venice, Capri, Anacapri, Cinque Terre, Lucca, and Positano, just to name drop a few places. Now I didn't have wine at all these places because my parents limited my consumption, but at dinner all bets were off! I drank only red, and in Italy there are no sulfates in the wine (still not sure what exactly that means) but from what my Nonna told me, it is significantly better than wine we can get in America. After this adventure and exposing my taste buds to "higher quality" wines, I was hooked. I have become an amateur wine connoisseur and drink red wine anytime I am home with my mom over breaks. We like 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon, anything Bogle (my mom especially likes Phantom which is a specialty only available in the fall.) When I go to a restaurant I typically get a house Merlot or Cab because let's face it, they are cheaper for the college kid and still offer a delicious taste.

I am really a red girl and I hate anything with bubbles (carbonation), so I'm not sure how I tolerated the Barefoot Moscato. I am so excited to begin sipping wine while taking this Geography of Wine class with Boyer and hope to learn how to identify tastes, and how to describe those tastes to others. I would like to learn how to not look like an amateur when ordering from a restaurant, and I want to be confident and able to branch out and try new wines and not be afraid of disliking them. I would say one of my main goals after taking this class is being able to select an appropriate wine as a hostess gift. I want to select something the hostess will like or will enjoy trying, and I want to have knowledge on whatever wine I choose. I have to say I am not well versed in wine, my main exposure is with red so I would also like to be more competent in whites as well as further my knowledge on reds.

All in all, I am so excited to start pairings and tastings! Maybe we could all even meet each other in Italy!