Wine Experiences: 

             My personal experience with wine began on a Thanksgiving Eve celebration with the whole family; grandparents, cousins, etc.  I am blessed to be half Italian and half German, which means, as you know, half wine-loving and half beer-loving sides of the family.  This Thanksgiving Eve was with my Italian side of the family and the wine bottles were plentiful.  I do not know what kind of red wine I was given a taste of but it was misfortunate to try it at a young age because after that sip of bitter wine I did not have another glass, believe it or not, until college. 

            The love of wine I have now began with the sweetest, Moscato.  Getting ready to head to another famous Hokie football game at 9am my roommate refused to let me leave our place without starting with a drink.  Since it was a Saturday morning I was somewhat woozy from the night before and I refused to let any rum or whiskey enter my mouth for at least three hours.  My roommate whipped out a bottle of barefoot Moscato, it was love at first taste. 

            Unfortunately I spent the whole semester stuck on Moscato wine only; usually just barefoot brand for social events.  Don’t get me wrong I still drink Moscato quite frequently, $10.99 large bottles at kogers just cannot be beat for a college students budget.  However, since last Christmas I have been expanding my taste of wine primarily at family functions and when going out to dinner.  One of my favorite wines was at a restaurant in Richmond called The Boat House, the wines were Italian Whites, Piane Di Maggio and Banfi, San Angelo, Pinot Grigo.  I have absolutely expanded my taste for white wines; I like the sweet and fruity properties.  I still have a lack of experience with red wine for sure unfortunately.  I have not found any reds (nor have I tried enough) that I enjoy drinking just to appreciate the wine. 

            From this class I would really like to learn anything and everything about wine and liquor that can be taught in a semester.  I would also like to use that knowledge to really open up the diversity of red wines I like.  I am hoping the wine tastings are just the key for that.  I am also interested in learning what foods go with which wines.  I believe that is a great skill to have for social aspects like work dinners or even family functions.