Reflecting

Today I was reminiscing about my experiences with wine before I first started seriously drinking it and treating it as a hobby. While I didn't dislike the taste of wine when I first started drinking it, I definitely had not aquired the taste completely. The first wine I ever tasted was a Chardonnay, I honestly can't remember who it was made by, but I remember that it was too dry for me and it attacked my tongue in a bad way. I hadn't tried red wine yet and I was really hoping it had a better flavor. I can't remember the first red I had, but I know that it was then that I realized I liked wine. Vee and I started having little wine parties with our friends without even knowing what we were drinking, we were just enjoying it. This random experimentation helped in discovering my likes and dislikes. I think learning about wine and having a favorite wine is great, but I even now find myself being afraid to try something risky, because I already know what I like and why. Before I knew anything about wine, I was trying anything and everything. One of my good friends brought over a bottle of Warre's Ruby Port one night and he and I drank the whole bottle. I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever drunk. It was sweet and strong and actually had the flavor that I had imagined red wine would have before I had ever had a glass. (I had no idea it was a dessert wine) For a while it was my favorite wine. I enjoyed it for the bold flavor and full body and while port isn't my regular drink anymore, it helped me to realize those big characteristics in wine that I still enjoy in Zinfandel and in some Shiraz.

The morning after we drank the whole bottle of port we both woke up with bad hangovers. I asked my friend what he thought we should do to remedy our problem and he said we should drink more wine. We had an unopened magnum bottle of some cheap Chianti I had purchased a for the night before and we drank more than half of it. To my surprise it worked! We were tipsy and hangover free. The Chianti was horrible (what could we expect from a $4 magnum) but it fixed the problem and Vee drove us to a pancake house for breakfast. To this day I think that is the only time I have ever been drunk in the morning. :)

So, as I am learning more about wine all the time, I am finding things I like about different wines. While I really enjoy Pinot Noir, I have found that it has lighter qualities than I prefer. I have also found that I can never predict whether or not I will enjoy a Merlot, because in my opinion it seems to be different in every bottle. One thing that hasn't changed much is that I still don't care too much for white wine. I have grown more of an appreciation for it, but I only drink it when Vee wants it with dinner.

I think a wine goal I am going to set for myself is to start experimenting a bit more like I used to. When I'm at the liquor store trying to decide between the Rutheford Ranch Cabernet and the Renwood Zinfandel, maybe I will go for a random Pinot Grigio or Chenin Blanc. I encourage everyone to step out of your box next time you are out grabbing a bottle. You might be surprised.