My Experience with Wine

                Wine has been a part of my life since I was about 16. It was the first alcoholic drink that I was introduced to by my parents. I live in a family of wine fanatics and Italian wine fanatics at that. My mother is 100% Italian and I have spent a lot time with my mother’s side of the family. As an Italian family, we like to spend lots of time with each other and wine is usually involved especially if my aunt and uncle are there. When I was around 16 I was offered a sip of wine with dinner at family gatherings, usually during the holidays or other special occasions. As I grew older I was permitted to have my own glass which could be considered as some sort of rite of passage. The point of the story is that I was introduced to wine in a positive way and an environment that fostered the appreciation and love for the beverage itself and the culture that surrounds it. As a result I, like many members of my family, love wine and it is my alcoholic beverage of choice. After turning 21 and having the ability to purchase my own wine has only furthered my love for wine.

                Since my family is full of the wine fanatics and my first experiences with the beverage were during special occasions, I was introduced to some very good wines right from the beginning. I consider myself both blessed and cursed for having been such good wine so early on. On one hand I feel fortunate to have tried some good wines so early in my life but on the other hand my budget as a student doesn’t allow me to have those wines on a regular basis. My limited budget has encouraged me to find the complex and full bodied wines that I enjoy in the $10-$12 price bracket, so far it has been a fun challenge.

My family has contributed heavily to the types of wines that I prefer. We drink almost exclusively red wine and as a result I drink almost exclusively red wine. Also I prefer dryer wines with a darker taste and even a little bite to them. These types of wines are ones that my family also enjoy, especially my uncle who likes his wine very dry and bitey. Before I was able to purchase my own wine I never gave much thought to the types of grapes in the wine that I was drinking, how it was aged, the climate the grapes grew in or anything like that. The only thing that I thought about was did I like the taste of what I was drinking. Now that I have to select wine from the large variety that are available it has forced me to pay more attention to these details so I make an educated guess about whether or not I would like that bottle. My current favorites are Cabernet Sauvignon’s from California, Malbec’s from Chile and Italian Barbarossa wines.