Coming from a
large, Italian family, every holiday and family gathering has involved wine for
as long as I can remember. I would try little sips of both red and white wine
occasionally during the holidays when I was younger, but I felt the same way
about it every time: it burned! I had tried Merlot, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Pinot
Grigio, Chianti, and more, but I wanted nothing to do with ANY of them! The red definitely had a worse burn than the
white, but neither were appealing to me. I couldn't understand why my family
members liked wine so much and chose to drink something that tasted so badly!
It wasn't until
I got older and came to college that I started realizing what all the fuss
about wine was. After my freshman year, I participated in a study abroad
program for two weeks after my spring semester. We traveled to France,
Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. In Paris, the first wine we drank was a Rose
wine. It was delicious! I had no idea wine could taste like that! It was sweet,
fruity, smooth, and didn't burn the back of my throat like all the rest of the
wine’s I had tried. After returning from Europe, I was excited to start trying
more wines. I discovered that the more wines I tried, the less they began to
burn my throat. I soon realized that I actually really enjoy drinking a glass
of red wine with dinner and casually with friends and family. I love how it can
bring a group of people together with laughter and celebration.
I have never
been able to understand what my parents are talking about when they describe
their wines as having an “oaky” flavor, or tasting like cherries or pepper. As
I’ve tried more wines, I am still not sure what these descriptions mean or how
to taste them. I’m looking forward to learning more about how to describe wine
and its flavor throughout this class. I am also interested in becoming more
familiar with various regions of wine and the grapes from those areas. I
believe that being educated about wine is a very important element to our
society, and I would like to gain an insight into the culture behind it. I can't wait to get started on this unique journey!
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