First Blog Assignment for Geography of Wine

I have decided to start this blog as a way to supplement my grade in the class as well as to (in)formally record my growing experience with wine.

When finances allow it I have made it a point to try two to five new beers a week. I take pride and enjoyment in my knowledge of and experience with beer, and doubtless this enjoyment will transfer to the world of wine. That said, my experience with wine is about as evolved as a mid-teen's experience with operating a motor vehicle: it's one full of fun and irresponsibility and wonder and confusion and naivete and involves the occasional wreck. Up until the second lecture of this class the incredibly, incredibly low cost of reaching inebriation by taking a 13% ABV bottle to the face has been the driving force behind my wine purchasing. In fact, Bay Bridge ($2.99, Kroger, would not recommend) accounts for what I estimate to be 50% of all wine I've purchased.

Perhaps my second most frequently purchased that I can recall is Rex Goliath Free Range Red. Keeping in mind the paltry number of wines I've actually tried enjoying/tasting/making-last-longer-than-a-night, I thought this wine from them was pretty damn good - better than their merlot or pinot whatever. Outside of Rex and Bay Bridge like every other college student ever I've had Franzia and hated it the next morning. However I keep hearing "Mad Dog" in class. Haven't had it, had to look it up... What a girly looking beverage. Other than Yellow Tail, Sutter Home, Barefoot, mass produced bottom-shelf wine, etc., I can't really remember other brand names I've had, though there have been more than a few. When I make a purchase I might spend five minutes looking for a cheap but not cheap-looking bottle and without much regard to type of grape, but the name is almost instantly forgotten.

Other than table wine, I once purchased a large bottle of sherry (yes I know it's usually for cooking, heard it from you and seventy others). On a college budget, at 17%, 1.5L, and cheaper than most bottles of wine, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Enough about that.

Well that's pretty much my experience with wine so far. Lots of Bay Bridge and Rex Goliath, plenty of Franzia/Barefoot/etc., and definitely some random <$10 bottles I can't remember. Looking forward to getting my sniff n swirl on with some new ones though.