My wine experience as of January 2025 and what I want to learn in Geography of Wine

 Hi readers! I am Audrey Skinner, a senior in chemical engineering from Smithfield, VA.  My first experience with wine was honestly terrible. I tried boxed Franzia wine and decided it was not for me. However, in December 2022, I was taken to a wine bar as a "thank you" for dog-sitting. My friend knew I did not like wine and had almost no experience, so we began with a nice bottle of Riesling. The first sip was crisp and refreshing with a hint of sweetness, and I really enjoyed it. This told me that I liked wine but just nicer wine, lol.

I continued to drink only Riesling for the next year until I went out with a friend's family for dinner at an Italian restaurant.  I had ordered a glass of Riesling for dinner but the wine never came out, so my friend's mom gave me her glass of Pinot Noir to have while I waited.  I did not think I enjoyed red wine, but the Pinot Noir was smooth with a hint of sweetness.  This then opened up the door for me to try other red wines and venture into more white wine as well.  Not even a few weeks later, I went to the Wine Lab in Blacksburg for a flight of wine and chose the Region of Focus. The region was Spain at the time and I do not remember the exact wines, but I do remember enjoying them. I still always get the Region of Focus flight when I go to Wine Lab because it changes so often.

For the summer of 2024, I studied abroad in Germany.  This allowed me to travel to Italy, France, and Barcelona to try different wines, including at winery tour and tasting at Constello di Roncade.  Tasting so many different wines over the summer led me to my current wine preferences. My favorite wines to drink are dry reds, specifically Bordeaux wines right now.  I also love a Spanish red or white because the ones I have had have been fruity and not too sweet.

From the Geography of Wine course, I really want to develop a deeper understanding of what the descriptions of wine mean.  For example, I want to know what to expect when drinking a "full-bodied" or "spicy" wine. I am also excited to see the trends among wines made in the same geographical areas, like how French wine differs from Argentinian wine. Overall, I am truly open to trying all sorts of wine and soaking up all the information that I can about wine tasting and wine making. Let's start sipping!