Wine is awesome. My taste in wine is largely limited by an unwillingness to spend more than $15 on a bottle. Despite this, I have an appreciation for a well priced red. My favorite to date are: Aldi's Winking Owl, an impressive Cabernet Sauvignon for only $4.39 and Trader Joe's $4.99 Green Fin, an organic red blend.
My expertise is rather limited. I know that wines' distinct flavors and palate are the result of different varieties of grape, the properties of barrels, and age. I know also that geographic factors like humidity, aridity, temperature, and soil quality effect the properties of wine grapes.
Two of my close friends' fathers have extensive wine cellars and one is a sommelier. I have had many a bottle from each of their collections and long-winded explanations as to what we are drinking but I have not seemed to internalize much of that information. During recent time spent in France's Lorie Valley I had the opportunity to taste wines produced on the grounds of the Chateau de Chenonceau.
I hope to deepen my knowledge of wine so that if I find my self in the french countryside again or tasting wines with the more experienced I may be able to understand what they are saying. I am particularly interested in some of the finer areas of study, why aerate the wine, why swirl, what are legs, why do weather conditions matter, why were some years better for certain wines, and why do I see sommeliers spitting out wine, if they like it so much.
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