Have you
ever been to one of those delightful, classy family dinners filled with
intelligent conversation and loving remarks about one another? Me neither. Our
holidays are usually just a group of loud Italians shouting at one another
until finally everyone is either too full or intoxicated to do anything else…I
can never really tell the difference. Over the years, I can’t help but think
that without all the calming effects of alcohol, my family would have for sure
murdered each other by now. Of course, coming from an Italian Roman Catholic
family, the drink of choice is always wine. In fact, the Catholic Church was
where I first tried this beverage.
Like any God-fearing Catholic
child, it was my Godly duty to participate in my first Holy Communion around
the age of 10. This is my first recollection of ever consuming wine…though, in
a religious sense, I was
actually
drinking the blood of Christ. But anyway, it meant nothing else to me in my
childhood other than that it was the most supreme drink chosen by God himself
and that it should be revered.
As I grow into the now end times of
my college years, I have come to appreciate wine as a casual beverage (trying
my best not to consume too much in one sitting). As I continue to drink it I am
increasingly overwhelmed by the sheer variety of wine in existence. In general,
I tend to stick with what I like in anything: food, music, etc. So, once I
found a few good wines, I mainly stuck with those. Some include Apothic Red and
Beaujolais Nouveau. These are both new world wines and hence, I never even
thought about pairing them with food. My wine “repertoire” needs to seriously
increase, which is something I know this class will do. I would like to
discover new wines and what it is about the taste of these specific ones that I
like so that I can find others like them in the future.
At the time I’m writing this, I’ve
already learned so much from this course as well as what the rest will be like,
so, in part, my expectations have been formed around that. Prior to starting, I
had no stringent desires of what to learn, my main motivation was simply that
it would force me to explore the wine game more than I probably ever would have
on my own. So, this should be quite the experience and here’s hoping I don’t
become an elitist jerk about it in the end!
