My Personal Experience with Wine

My experiences with wine are few and far between. However, my most recent experience involved a quaint wine shop and much confusion about what kind of wine I should buy. I ended up asking the available wine expert what I should purchase if I do not think I like red wine, but I want to buy one, because I've only ever tried white wines. The expert took me around the store and first showed me a red wine that she described as "really good" but would make my mouth super dry and my lips stick together. I told her I want the opposite of that description for the wine I buy. Then she proceeded to show me a "juicy" wine, which sounded much better, and I decided to buy it. While I was checking out she said, "some people think it tastes like bananas and bubble gum!". I almost told her I decided not to get it, because the last thing I want to drink is something that resembles banana and bubble gum. Nevertheless, I finished checking out and left with a wine that I thought would taste disgusting. I soon discovered that I surprisingly enjoyed the wine, and I did not think it even remotely resembled bananas or bubble gum.

In conclusion, I learned that I do not truly know what wines I like, and I certainly do not understand how to properly describe their tastes. The rare occasions that I do drink wine, I tend to stick with sweet white wines and I steer clear of anything that is primarily described as dry. This being said, I could probably count the number of times I have had wine using my two hands. On a couple occasions I've had wine with a meal, and other times I simply had a glass with friends or at an organized social event.

By the end of this course, I hope to know how to pick out a wine for myself and be able to understand what types of flavors constitute certain wines. I would like to understand why and how wines are described in the manner that they are, and be able to select an appropriate wine for any meal. It would also be interesting to learn how wines are made and what contributes to the unique taste of each wine. I hope to learn some history about how wines came about and the differences between wines produced in various regions of the country and the world.