Hello, fellow wine lovers! This is my first official post on my new Wine Blog for my Geography of Wine class at Virginia Tech. I will hopefully be posting about wine tastings, dinner pairings, vineyards, films about wine, and other delicious topics. For now, I will give you a short introduction into my relationship with wine so far and what I hope to experience with this opportunity.
My first significant wine experience was in Italy in 2010. My family and a couple others went to Italy for 2 weeks the summer after my high school graduation. I tried a few wines, none particularly to my liking, but quickly realized that I preferred white to red.
In college I would occasionally drink white wine, but not enough to become picky about types, especially when money is scarce. But last spring, I spent a semester abroad in Lugano, Switzerland through Tech's Marketing program and found some favorites. I do not enjoy the taste of beer, so I have always searched for other options, including hard cider and wine, many of which were easily available in Europe. Which is a good thing, because cocktails were absurdly expensive in most countries, especially Switzerland (because everything is expensive there). Since then, I have become fond of Riesling and sweeter wines like Moscato. I also enjoyed wine spritzers or mixed drinks with Prosecco, like Sangria, Bellini, Aperol Spritz and a drink in Spain called Tinto de Verano (Summer Red Wine). My options in Europe were numerous and I tried to take advantage of trying new things. Now that I'm back in America, there are certain drinks I miss, like special cocktails and especially hard cider brands.
As for the class itself, I'm looking forward to learning more about wine and why I prefer certain types over others. I'd also like to understand how they are named, what is in different types, what countries/regions are known for, and how to describe a wine without sounding like a fool. My best friend back home and I love to relax with a bottle of wine or go to happy hours around Richmond, VA so maybe I'll be able to order more confidently in the future. She's also looking forward to hearing what I've learned because she likes red and I like white. I don't think JMU offers a class like this one so she's missing out! Hopefully, I'll learn a whole lot and get to show off a little with my friends!
photo source: http://www.idahoconservation.org/images/misc/iStock_000004403602Large.jpg/image
No comments:
Post a Comment