Wine and Me!

I learned very quickly that wine and all the different varietals and blends is a taste your palate has to get used to. A couple years ago I tried my first glass of wine - a dry red. Rookie mistake! I didn't enjoy the taste at all. For a while after I didn't try to drink wine again until my Winery Tourism class last year.  My friend in class, Megan, told me to start with a lighter, sweeter white wine before moving on to reds. She was right. I tried a few different Moscato white dessert wines as well as a couple different Riesling varietals. I absolutely loved them. One thing that helped my palate get used to drinking wine was Sangria. At first I only enjoyed the white wine Sangria, but I soon fell in love with red wine Sangria. I then decided to give red wines another shot. Now I enjoy the taste of sweeter reds, such as Lambrusco. Up until now, I would only have one or two glasses of wine a month. With my lack of wine knowledge, I haven't bought many bottles. I didn't want to spend money on a bottle if I was unsure I would enjoy it. Usually, I just buy a glass of Riesling or Sangria with dinner when out at a nicer restaurant.  

This semester, my goal is to attend at least one wine tasting a week. This way, I can expose my palate to many different varietals and blends each week to discover what flavors my palate enjoys. Once my palate gets used to different blends and varietals, I would like to start purchasing more bottles of wine and having them with an appropriate dinner dish at home.

In Geography of Wine, I hope to learn about vinification, how grapes are turned into wine, as well as viticulture, the growing of grapes. How are grapes grown all around the world, in so many different climates? I'm also interested in learning about the well known wine regions and popular wines in countries such as France, the U.S., Spain, Italy, etc.

Here's to greatly expanding my wine palate and knowledge this semester, with the help of Geography of Wine!