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Damn, that's some good-ass cheese!
Jan. 24th, 2006 12:17 am"Everytime I learn something new it pushes something old out of my brain! Remember when I took that home winemaking course and forgot how to drive?"
"Homer, you were drunk!"
"And how!"
Yeah, it was a little bit like that.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gismonda and I took the "Grape Juice 101" class tonight at Solo Vino Wines. It ended up being exactly what I was looking for: a nice little introduction that described some of the things to check out when you're drinking a glass of wine. Very accessible, very unpretentious. And we also got to try some fruit and a couple of cheeses, just to start thinking about wine and food pairings. The whole thing was reminiscent of a fancy Arsenio Hall wine and cheese party.
We tasted both whites and reds, three of each, selected to emphasize fruit, acid, and tannin. I've never been to an actual wine tasting before--though I have been to several wine guzzlings--and I was surprised what a difference it makes to discuss exactly what it is you're perceiving. "Hmmm, pears and citrus? Why yes, now that you mention it..." I also really learned to appreciate the value of having a couple of different wines to compare and contrast. All of which are the most fundamental things you learn about wine appreciation, but I've never done this before.
The real surprise of the evening was discovering that I actually have half an appreciation for white wine. Before tonight, everything I knew about white wine I learned from Bette Davis. Now, I'm not saying I could drink my way out of a vat of Riesling, but I think I could enjoy a nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc every now and again.
I'm still working on developing my palate. There was a lot of stuff I was sensing, but I wasn't quite able to articulate. I'm getting a bit better, though--I can actually notice some of the different characteristics of the different kinds of wine I tasted and describe how one is different from the other. I could never really do that before, beyond "Hey, that's a red!" or "Hey, that's port! or "Hey, that's Jack Daniel's!"
As an aside, this wasn't actually the first time I was able to describe the taste of a wine. One day they were giving out samples at my neighborhood wine shop, and I sampled a Sauvignon Blanc. I identified a slight note of asparagus. I did this by observing that it tasted just like drinking a big glass of asparagus. It put me off white wine for a while. (And hell, I even like asparagus.) (I also like the word "asparagus.")
So, I'm still learning. Even now, my favorite part of learning about wine is that I get to drink a lot of wine. Of course, that was also my favorite part of learning algebra. You probably went to a better school than I did.
"Homer, you were drunk!"
"And how!"
Yeah, it was a little bit like that.
gismonda and I took the "Grape Juice 101" class tonight at Solo Vino Wines. It ended up being exactly what I was looking for: a nice little introduction that described some of the things to check out when you're drinking a glass of wine. Very accessible, very unpretentious. And we also got to try some fruit and a couple of cheeses, just to start thinking about wine and food pairings. The whole thing was reminiscent of a fancy Arsenio Hall wine and cheese party.We tasted both whites and reds, three of each, selected to emphasize fruit, acid, and tannin. I've never been to an actual wine tasting before--though I have been to several wine guzzlings--and I was surprised what a difference it makes to discuss exactly what it is you're perceiving. "Hmmm, pears and citrus? Why yes, now that you mention it..." I also really learned to appreciate the value of having a couple of different wines to compare and contrast. All of which are the most fundamental things you learn about wine appreciation, but I've never done this before.
The real surprise of the evening was discovering that I actually have half an appreciation for white wine. Before tonight, everything I knew about white wine I learned from Bette Davis. Now, I'm not saying I could drink my way out of a vat of Riesling, but I think I could enjoy a nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc every now and again.
I'm still working on developing my palate. There was a lot of stuff I was sensing, but I wasn't quite able to articulate. I'm getting a bit better, though--I can actually notice some of the different characteristics of the different kinds of wine I tasted and describe how one is different from the other. I could never really do that before, beyond "Hey, that's a red!" or "Hey, that's port! or "Hey, that's Jack Daniel's!"
As an aside, this wasn't actually the first time I was able to describe the taste of a wine. One day they were giving out samples at my neighborhood wine shop, and I sampled a Sauvignon Blanc. I identified a slight note of asparagus. I did this by observing that it tasted just like drinking a big glass of asparagus. It put me off white wine for a while. (And hell, I even like asparagus.) (I also like the word "asparagus.")
So, I'm still learning. Even now, my favorite part of learning about wine is that I get to drink a lot of wine. Of course, that was also my favorite part of learning algebra. You probably went to a better school than I did.
