Introduction

When I told my parents I would be taking a class called Geography of Wine, they weren't all that pleased and thought that I could be spending my last semester more productively.  But as a senior who will be graduating in a matter of months, what is more productive than learning skills that will help me countless social situations?  I too thought that this class would be a breeze and somewhat of a joke, but after the first day, I knew that this class would constitute a significant chunk of my schoolwork for the semester.

My 21st birthday was only last September, so I don't have a lot of experience drinking wine yet, but I have been tasting it for a few years at family functions in small amounts.  Like most people, I did not enjoy wine too much the first time I tried it.  I will say that my first wine was not as bad as my first experience with beer or liquor.  My first wine was a Merlot, and I don't know much but I'll take a stab and say that Merlot might not be the best wine for making a first impression.  However after years of sipping my parents' different wines, I have come to prefer most reds over whites.  Currently, my favorite wine is Cabernet Sauvignon.  I couldn't tell you yet exactly why its my favorite, but I like it because of its buttery texture and how it pairs well with red meats (I am a big fan of steak, by the way).

From our Geography of Wine class, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of wine, from its varieties and flavors, to where it comes from, how it differs from place to place, and how to expand my palate.  I don't plan to be an expert wine taster after only 4 months, but I hope to gain the knowledge and methods that I can use for the rest of my life to keep learning more about wine.  I would consider my family as being decently knowledgeable about wine, and I'll be honest, it would be cool to know more than my parents about wine while being less than half their age (sorry mom and dad).  My uncle's brother used to own a winery in Northern California, but a few years ago something happened and he got caught up in a bunch of legal issues and such and had to close down his winery, I never really got the full details, but he always got me interested in learning about wine and wine making.

This should be a great semester, and hope you all keep reading as the semester progresses.  A lot of my tasting notes will probably be dumb sounding and not accurate to begin with, but we all have to start somewhere right?  Thanks for reading!