Time for Wine! My First Post

Hey Everyone! My name is Evelyn and welcome to my wine blog! I am a senior sociology major and Virginia Tech and I can't wait to increase my wine knowledge throughout this course!

To begin, I turned 21 back in July and celebrated by going to a brewery and winery. The first stop was Bold Rock and I have to say the classic apple Bold Rock reminds me a little bit of my favorite white wines. The next winery was Kings Vineyards and it was the most beautiful day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing... picture perfect! That is where the above photo was taken. While there it was the first time I tasted a Sauvignon Blanc that I did not hate! My previous experience with Sauvignon Blanc was that they tasted a little like the aftertaste of throwing up, yeah not good! But that's probably because I had only tried a cheap Cupcake brand of wine. 

I enjoy trying wines, I'll often pick up a new bottle each time I go grocery shopping which is around once a week. But I'll only go for a white wine because I prefer its crisp and refreshing taste and feel. My wine knowledge is pretty lacking. I would say at best I know the difference between red, white, and rosé but that's as far as it goes. I'm more of a sweet white wine girl, I tend to steer clear of full-body reds. I probably haven't tried enough reds or the right kinds to be enthusiastic about them. But that's something I am going to challenge myself with this semester by trying more red wines and pairing them with different meals. I absolutely love cooking and as Professor Boyer says, food and wine go hand in hand. I probably just haven't found the right red to go with a nice steak. I often will pour myself a glass of wine while meal prepping but it's usually always my go-to Sauvignon Blanc from the brand Psyche. 

During the course of this class, there are lots of things I would like to learn. I would like to expand my knowledge of the wine-making process and learn how wines are processed differently and how that contributes to the different flavors. Another winery experience I had was going to Chatham Vineyards, the only winery on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. There I had a flight of six wines, three white and three red. They give you a little note card that describes the wine-making process of each and which flavor notes you should be able to taste. That's what stumped me. How in the world can someone taste a wine and get the flavor notes of dark chocolate and red currant? I would like to develop my knowledge and my flavor pallet to accurately be able to describe notes and flavors of wine. I also would like to become well-versed in wine pairings for different cuisines, especially cheeses. I am a HUGE fan of charcuterie boards and would like to learn how to pair wine with my favorite cheeses like brie, cheddar, and a herby, creamy goat milk cheese.