Pre-Class Reflection

I believe I pretend to know more about wine than I actually do. Throughout this post, please remember that there is a high chance of inaccuracy and that I don't actually know what I'm talking about.

I remember the first time I tried red wine: I was 15, thought it was gross, put ice in it, and chugged it. In my defense, I was in Puerto Rico and the wine was hot, not room temperature. Coincidentally, this happens to be the same day I decided I hate red wine.

I've grown up a lot since then. When it's time to make a decision, I usually go with sauvignon blanc (which I spelt correctly the first time, so that's something) since it's on the drier side, but I like most whites. This may or may not be because I don't know enough about them to smell and taste all the flavors correctly. Although I prefer white wine, I've also explored some reds. I attribute this mostly to my love of food and my attempt to pair wine with it at restaurants. Red with red meat, white with chicken and fish, right? That's the extent of my knowledge about food and wine pairing. This aspect of the class is something I'm really looking forward to. I also hope to learn a bit about how to cook with wine.

Although I've never been wine tasting in the states, I've done a few tastings in New Zealand and I tried a few wines during my visits in France and Spain. Looking back, I wasn't able to describe the wine more than using the adjectives good, bad, dry, sweet, or fruity. I hope this changes after this semester so I can appreciate wine in a more sophisticated way.