I have had varied experiences with wine. I started drinking cheap boxed wine, which I believe we can all agree isn't very good, but it will get you drunk. I didn't really stop drinking Franzia until I had a bad experience with Franzia Sangria and decided I needed to graduate to something in a bottle. That something in the bottle started off with being Andre (I love champagne, no matter how bad it is) and then morphed into whatever label I thought looked most appetizing.

It wasn't until I had dinner at a little french restaurant in Richmond called Amour Wine Bistro that I realized how much wine had to offer. There's an older french man who owns the place and stocks it with his favorite wines and pairs them with traditional french dishes. I remember going in shortly after my twenty first birthday and he asked me what I wanted; having no idea what kind of wine I liked beyond Franzia Sunset Blush, I told him to surprise me. He came back with a delicious red that at first tasted like blackberries then shifted tones to a strong peppery finish. After drinking this I asked for a desert wine, he returned with an amazing port that tasted sweet like dried apricots and plums but finished with a coffee taste. I would say this is when my curiosity for wine was sparked and now I like to try to find wines that have stark dimensions such as these.

As far as wineries go, I've had somewhat of a range of experiences. I've visited the Williamsburg Winery (more on that later) and found most of their wines to be somewhat lackluster as they didn't have much dimension to them. I've also toured one of the oldest wineries in the Chianti region through one of Pamplin's study abroad programs. I learned to appreciate red wines at Castello di Verrazzano as well as the wine making process. I learned typically your reserves are brewed in smaller barrels to better their taste and other fun wine facts.

I am excited to learn a little more about wine labels in this class. I would like to be able to walk in a grocery store or wine shop and pick out a spicy Malbec by looking at the label rather than using the often expensive and disappointing hit-or-miss method of grabbing whatever looks like it may be decent.