List rewind: Learn more about wine

K and I started our blog a little late in the game and by the time it launched, I'd already crossed off a couple of my items. Because I'm proud of those accomplishments, and you're probably wondering what I did to cross them off, I wanted to share with all of you. Enjoy!

I'm starting to think that between my posts about cocktails, my love of gin and the copious amounts of champagne I drink all of you are minutes away from staging an intervention. To that I say "Cheers! I love drinking too much to give it up." Case in point is #11: learn more about wine. This was actually the very first goal I crossed off. And it's totally because it was one of my favorites on my list.
 
Like champagne, gin and pretty much all alcohol including moonshine, I love me some wine. It took me a while to get into it, but today it's rare to find one that I don't like. However, despite that love affair I know virtually nothing about it. Varietals? Legs? Tannins? What the hell are we talking about? I answered most of those questions and then some on a May 2009 trip to Napa with the hubby. We spent three glorious days touring vineyards, discovering that we do in fact like Merlot and getting pretty drunk.
 
But it was during all those tours that I learned a lot about grapes, the aging process, the difference between bottling wine and bubbly, and how to really use my palate to discover small nuances between blends and when a wine needs to open up and breathe. One of my favorite experiences was doing a barrel tasting at Pine Ridge. Tasting a young, aging wine before it's maturity was incredible. The trip was also a success because we managed to bring back 12 undamaged bottles of wonderful, amazing wine through airport security. This was by far the most enjoyable goal I've crossed off and although I'm not quite a sommelier ... yet ... am glad that this goal will continue to be a passion of mine until my liver gives out.
 

- B

 
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