Welcome to my Blog!

Hi Everyone!  My name is Erin and I’m a senior at Virginia Tech.  I’m taking a class this semester called “Geography of Wine” so I created this blog.  You may be wondering what I know about wine/ why I’m blogging about it.  The truth is I don’t know much about wines at all.  I like to try to different wines, but I don’t know much real information about them other than whether I like them or not.  But the plan is that through this class, I’ll learn a lot about it and I’ll be going to wine tastings and vineyards so I’ll write about it.  This blog will follow my journey as I learn all about wine!  So, I’ll start off by talking a little bit about what I do know and what my experiences have been with wine.

First of all, I just wanted to mention that I chose the picture at the top of my page (courtesy of http://www.ehow.com/ehow-food/blog/jordan-salcito-favorite-summer-wines/) because it reminds me of one of my favorite songs.  I love country music, and one of my favorites is “Strawberry Wine” by Deanna Carter.  If you haven’t heard it, I definitely recommend it!  Plus the picture reminds me of summer.  This past summer, I learned that a vineyard near my house, Boordy Vineyards, has concerts every Saturday night in the summer.  I started going with my friends and had a blast, so it’s one of my most fun memories involving wine (the picture on the right)!

 As far as knowledge of wine, most of what I know if from my family.  My grandfather loved wine and had a wine cellar in his basement.  When I was little, whenever we would have big family get-togethers with all of the cousins, my grandfather would let us take a sip of one of his wines.  We would pass a glass around the table and we would all get to taste it.  Then he would ask us what fruits we thought were in it and what type of barrel it was stored in (oak, cedar, pine, etc.).  We all used to think this was so cool, and it was what first got me to really think about the flavors in different wines.   My dad still asks me about this when we try wines together, so those are my only real experiences with thinking about and analyzing the wines that I drink.  

Now that I’m older, I’ve started to pick out my own wines and try different things.  But, I’m not gonna lie, I’m a college student... so I usually just buy whatever is cheap.  What I know so far is that I really like white wines.  In particular, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Riesling are my favorites.  I also like White Zinfandel and other blush wines.  I unfortunately haven’t tried many red wines that I really like, but I’m hoping throughout this semester I’ll acquire a taste for them.  Not only are red wines much more heart healthy, I also think they look sophisticated/ classy so hopefully I’ll find some I like!  

I’m really excited to get this started and explore all different types of wine!

P.S.  The wine I’m currently drinking is Woodbridge Chardonnay... I wouldn’t have to recommend it.  It’s super bitter and very acidic, but I guess that’s what I get for $7!