Welcome to my wine blog! My name is Leslie, and I have almost no experience with wine. What? Really? Yes, and that is exactly why I'm here! Growing up, I watched my grandfather (who is one of my favorite people in the whole world) drink wine all the time, and he is really the reason why I am interested in learning more about it. I would love to be able to share that passion with him, and he is also excited for me to take the class as well. My first personal experience with wine was when I took a microbiology lab class for my biology degree, and we made wine in the class. It was an awesome project and they told us at the beginning that we would be able to taste our own wine when it was done (exciting!). Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to taste it after someone accidentally contaminated theirs with a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa (we were using it for a different assignment), which can cause pneumonia, blood infections, and in some cases, even death. We couldn't really be sure if it was growing in everyone else's wine also, so our TA put his foot down and said no one could try it. I suppose that loss of privilege was understandable!
Recently, I went to the Blacksburg Wine Lab for the first time with my boyfriend and we tried two of the flights there. The waitress recommended the 'Slightly Sweet' one, which we both loved, and the 'Old World' one, on which we had pretty mixed opinions. At this point, I don't know if I've developed my palate enough to appreciate some of the dark flavors of the Old World flight, but I certainly liked the Slightly Sweet flight (especially the Principe Verdejo, which was blue!) because it was lighter, and tasted almost like less carbonated soda. I believe that I need to get more used to the taste before I can dive in and love the taste of more 'stereotypical' wines.
Last night, I had my second personal experience with wine. I attended a party hosted by my college for graduating seniors, and they gave us two drink tickets. We tried the Black Stallion Cabernet Sauvignon, and I felt much the same about it as I did the Old World flight at the Wine Lab-- it was too heavy for me. However, once I started taking very small sips, I started to appreciate it much more. I suppose I was diluting it a bit by only having a tiny amount at a time, but the more I tasted and smelled it, the more I liked it (which was in direct opposition to one of my friends who kept telling me to 'chug it' because I was taking longer to drink it than they did, haha). Although, that same friend also has a grandfather who loves wine, and he recommended that I try a port. His grandfather gave him a bottle for Christmas and he said he really liked it. Perhaps my first experience with port will be a later blog entry!
All-in-all, even though I have described myself as having almost no experience, and I seem to not enjoy most of the wine I've tried thus far, I am incredibly excited to embark on a journey to appreciate one of the world's oldest and most beloved drinks. I hope that I am able to come away from this experience armed with the knowledge of my likes and dislikes (because I'm sure I don't only like the Principe Verdejo), and maybe even learn to love darker, more full tastes, just like I did with the Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of all, I want to connect more with my grandpa on something that I know he loves. I can't wait to read about, learn about, write about, taste, and love wine!
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