School Can Be Fun -- And Delicious!!

I just completed my first course at Wine Spectator School, and I can’t stop jumping for joy!! Not only because I passed and a certificate is on it’s way, but because I learned so much.

I have loved wine since I was a small child, when at holidays my parents would pour me a little sip to toast with. I can still remember the bitter bite of my first red (no idea what varietal, I was 5 or 6 at the time) as if it were yesterday, as well as the joy my tongue felt. My parents weren’t “into” wine, or any alcohol for that matter, but my father is Italian, so we drank something relatively cheap and tasty at every special occasion or holiday that came along.

I started to realize there was a lot more to wine when I sipped my first sherry while foxhunting. Then, in the mid-90’s, I discovered a lot of Australian wine was cheap and just as delicious as anything I’d paid a fortune for from France or California. It made me curious about the rest of the world of wine, so even though I didn’t really know anything, I started sampling everything I thought I may like, regardless of price or origin.

Yet, I still really knew nothing. I still thought I only liked reds, and that I should choose purely by varietals I had liked before.

One day, my boyfriend took me to Chez Josephine (one of my all-time favorite restaurants) and ordered a bottle of Sancerre. I protested, “I don’t like white wine.” He assured me that I just had to try some and keep my mind open. The bottle came, I watched the pale liquid fall into the glass, and cautiously took a sip. Wow! The acidic citrus burst was everything I love in food and other drinks, why did I think I couldn’t find it in wine? I loved the fresh, clean feeling and flavors, and it went beautifully with whatever I was eating that day (doesn’t it say a lot that I remember the wine so clearly, and even food from a fabulous restaurant just couldn’t compete with the discovery?). It changed my whole way of thinking.

Now, I cook. I mean, it’s really become my biggest passion, and so it’s no surprise that my wine journey had to expand to accommodate all the new foods I know how to make now. I started reading everything I could online, pestering my wine-sellers for more information, and generally picking the brain of everyone I know who likes wine at all. One day, I ran across an ad on Wine Spectator for their online school. Perfect!!

I started with the most basic course, “ABC’s of Wine Tasting.” It wasn’t that hard, but it filled in so many of the blanks in my knowledge. It also untangled the world of French wines for me, which I had been trying to do on my own for awhile. The best part? I feel so much more confident walking into any wine store now, which can be intimidating when you live in a town full of good wine stores like I do. I actually fully understand reviews, too!

Also, they have a lot of multimedia, and it was amazing to actually watch and listen to winemakers talk about their wines and those they’ve tasted. The passion and pride that flowed out of them make you want to try everything they talk about, without realizing you are actually learning technical details in the process. I have so much more admiration for these talented people, they are not only making something that improves our lives, but they are living their passion every day.

So, I may not be an expert now or anything, but I know a heck of a lot more about why wines are what they are, and what I really like in a wine of any type. On to the next course – “Wine and Food Pairing”!!

(None of this was intended for an ad, but if you sign up for a course, let them know you read about it here. I don't know if they'll give me credits or anything, but it can't hurt, right?)