I first fell in love with wine in a huge fest tent with a couple hundred of my closest friends at a wine festival in Worms, Germany. While living in Germany, I really came to enjoy whites almost exclusively (as well as the beer). I didn't really try to determine what varieties I preferred, but sampled many. Once in a while would order an Ebbelwoi (local dialect for apple wine) spritz. Also made sure to become familiar with many of the various Schnapps - distilled wines of various fruits.
Later I started to introduce more red wine and now my preference seems to be seasonal - red in cold weather and white when it's warm outside. I very much like to have a glass of Prosecco as an aperitif.
I have been lucky enough to visit wine estates for tastings in Virginia, the Finger Lakes, Italy, France, Germany, and Moldova. But I always approached them as a neophyte. I could tell what I liked, but was never sure that I was appreciating all that the wines had to offer.
My favorite kind of wine tasting is to invite four or five friends over to my house, have them all bring 6 wine glasses and a bottle in a brown bag, and have a "blind" taste test. With a prize for the winner
In this course I hope to learn how to really appreciate the taste of wine, and understand how to pair wine with food. And I am really excited to learn about how and why local conditions can impart unique characteristics on their wines.
