An Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to document my experiences with wine. So what better way to start it off, than to give you a look to MY introduction to wine and alcohol!?

My parents are the kind of people who believed that giving their children an exposure to alcohol early-on would decrease the amount of trouble they would get into later. They told us, "get in trouble now while we're around, so that the binge-drinking, police enforcement-inducing behavior wears itself OUT of your system." My 3 siblings and I definitely appreciated this when we were younger. We got to drink with our parents and the 'grown-ups' when we were still in elementary school. I think my first alcoholic beverage was red wine........I was 10. We would go to family get-togethers and have a glass of whatever the hosts were serving, usually a deep dark red. 

That was also about the time we went to France...and we know the French, they love their wine! In France, we went out to breakfasts and had a sensible cafe au laits and chocolat chauds, then lunches and dinners with pitchers of wine. We'd have picnics with a bottle or two and all of the vineyards we'd visit would give us a tasting. I'd say I have some experience drinking wine and since I turned 21, I've been happily purchasing wine, too.

I don't pretend to be an expert, but I know my favorites. Wine is my alcoholic beverage of choice and in the past few years, I've favored good Californian Rieslings--sweet, but just a little drier and less floral than Moscato. However, recently I've been loving some Chilean Malbecs. I drink with my friends and family, sometimes alone watching a movie. I love trying new wines and am constantly searching for a good wine that is relatively affordable on my poor-college-student budget. Maybe I'll find one this semester...

I hope to learn about the histories behind different wines, the regions from which these wines originate, what environments are conducive to grape growing and whatever factoids about wine that'll make me sound smart.

I am so excited to DRINK and WRITE ABOUT IT! Hopefully, this little look into my drinking past gives you an idea of how much I enjoy the beverage. I look forward to learning as much as I can during this semester in Geography of Wine.