Wine class!

After a long hiatus, I am back and readier to write than ever. This eagerness to write could, in part, be due to the fact that this blog will now count as part of my grade for wine class, but that's beside the point.  Yes, I am now happily enrolled in an online section of Geography of Wine, a course which will hopefully help me form the foundation of my lifelong wine education, so grab your own glass, give it a hearty swirl and sniff, and get pumped!

My own relationship with wine really isn't that exciting at the moment.  Bacchus's sweet nectar first graced my lips at a 7th grader in communion class, and I remember being appalled that anyone would ever drink this stuff (White Zinfandel) for fun.  As I got older, I still wasn't a huge fan of wine until I studied abroad in France.  As an 18 year old in a wine wonderland, I quickly learned to like the whites and love the reds.  My favorite warm, fuzzy memories from that trip involve a couple of bottles of Côtes du Rhone, a hunk of Roquefort, and a slab of dark chocolate shared with friends on the lawn of the Tour Eiffel.  The weather wasn't all that nice, as I now remember, so maybe the wine had something to do with the warm and fuzzy.  Anyway, a decent bottle of wine cost about the same as a nice bottle of spring water and my hostel's cafeteria served wine out of a juice dispenser for lunch and dinner, so drink I did.  My favorites were Côtes du Rhone, as mentioned before, with its rich, dark flavors, and champagne with black currant liqueur.  After my return to the US, my wine tasting slowed down until I was again of legal drinking age and able to buy my own wine.

Currently, I am not wine's biggest fan.  I really struggle with proper pairing of food and wine, and often bring out the wrong notes with what I try.  I've also developed a tendency to get headaches from drinking just one glass of red (blame it on the sulfites?).  I know that I'm not a fan of Pinot Noir, but I'm hoping I can re-school my palette and enjoy those reds that I loved so much in Paris.  These days I really only drink wine either with a nice dinner or while binge-eating brie and watching Netflix with my best friend.  Drink This Now! says that wine can be integrated into more parts of life than these, and I am ready to learn!  (c)Here's to a great semester!