Fresh and Fruity

Wine has been a significant part of my life, yet something I do not know much about. Since I can remember I have gone to the local wine store with my dad called Arrowine. Watching him do wine tastings, enthusiastically talking to other sommeliers in some kind of 'wine language' that was completely foreign to me. All I knew was that some were white, some were red, some cheap and others very expensive.

In high school I began to have a glass of wine with my parents at dinner every once in a while, but I  ONLY ever chose the fresh and fruity white wine. I thought red was awful, it had a gross smell and an even worst taste. I always looked across the table to see my dad holding his large Bordeaux glass swirling and sniffing his red wine over and over again. I wondered what he was doing, sometimes made a joke but he would just role his eyes and keep on swirling. 

But then came college. My friends and I experimented with different types of alcohol and I found that wine and liquor were my top two. I hated drinking the Natty Light people brought to parties, it was worse than any red wine I had ever tasted, that's for sure. When I became a Senior at Virginia Tech I decided it was finally time to learn about wine. I visited my first vineyard in October of 2012, my friends and I went to Beliveau Estates in Blacksburg and it was absolutely beautiful. The owner gave us a tour of the vineyard, a tasting of all the wine they offered, and to my surprise my favorite was a red! Specifically a sweet red wine blend called Summer Rose. From then on I decided to broaden my horizons past the fresh and fruity white wines and try Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Meritage among many others.

So I am now a red and white wine drinker but I would like to increase my knowledge of wine, and that it was led me to take this class. I want to be able to make wine a part of the conversation with the people I am drinking with, be able to pair wine and food, and know the difference between a good and bad wine.