Wine Blog #1

Wine is one of the more intriguing alcoholic beverages that eludes a good chunk of the college population due to its prominent stereotypes that surround it, such as being too expensive for a college students budget, wine drinkers are for the older/wealthier class, and people who drink wine are usually pretentious snobs. My personal experience with wine is very brief and unknown because when I was introduced to alcohol, beer and liquor were first. These were the beverages of choice because of cost and availability. The only times I have drank wine have been at special family events where my mom would have a bottle of Riesling wine to go along with the dinner she prepared, and a glass would be all I would consume before I shifted back to old faithful, Bud Light.  In my experience I've enjoyed the lighter white wines over the heavier/dinner red wines, and usually only had wine at dinner functions or events were there was food readily available.

Since the start of this semester I've quickly realized that wine is an acquired taste, and will take time to adapt to the taste, process, and the etiquette that wine drinking entails. Never have I ever had wine alone or been to wineries for tasting events that I have realized are occurring weekly at various locations FOR FREE!!! During my first real tasting, I've realized that wine is a more of a social function that easily sparks endless conversations among friends about the tastes, texture, and various smells. One of the greatest attributes about wine is everyone could be tasting different flavors out of the same bottle, and no one can tell you that you were wrong.

What I want to get out of this class is to become a wine connoisseur and be able to know the grapes, location, and culture of wine where I could take my newly found knowledge to the corporate world, and impress my co-workers/bosses. In this course I would like to learn about the creation of some of the finest wines and what makes them $1,500 to a wine consumer. Also since its a geography of wine course, learning about some of the exotic locations that produce this sweet nectar. Lastly, I've always had a desire to learn more about vineyards, and what makes them tick. These are only a few things off the top of my head that have drawn me into this coarse, and I'm sure I will learn much more throughout this semester.