The Story of Wine and I

Hello people of the interweb!  My name is Shannon and I am a first-time blogger.  It is most fitting that my first time blogging about anything in the world is about booze.  This blog is for the Geography of Wine class at Virginia Tech.

I have not always been into wine.  Like most college freshmen, I found myself at parties with kegs of Natural Light and shots of Burnetts vodka (flavored if I was lucky).  A few events in my college years have led me to actually really begin to love wine.  First, I began to wait tables in the summers and had to remember an extensive wine list and some of their characteristics.  This began to peak my interest.  Secondly, I quickly realized a box of Franzia was basically the best deal if you are going for alcohol content versus dollars spent.  So I began to like cheap, sweet wines like white zinfandels and reislings and "sweet reds" and "sunset blush" (whatever that means).  They tasted like juice and they got me drunk.  But it wasn't until I went to Europe in the fall of my fourth year with my architecture program that I began to like red wine.  Over there, wine is literally cheaper than still water.  Every restaurant made a house wine and it often times was just served to you without being asked.  So after a hazy three months spent traveling in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Italy, I came home with a love for red wine and an expectation that it was to be served with every meal.  My parents were less than enthused.  But I still have so much to learn about this wonderful beverage, so I will be doing tastings every week of any wines I can get my hands on.  See you soon!

Drinking wine with some of my favorite people in Bilbao, Spain