Ever since I can remember, my paternal grandfather has made his own wine. I don't want to mislead anyone, he does not have his own vineyard, but he do have a wine cellar in the basement where he make wine. He immigrated from Italy with my grandmother and uncle before my father was born and I was always told that making your own wine in Italy is very common. I soon learned that is not true here in the United States. I remember tasting the juice from the grapes before it ever fermented into wine. It was much more sweet than anything I have ever tasted from Welch's bottles. Trying to explain that their is even sweeter juice out there to my friends in kindergarten was quite the task. I also remember tasting his wine for the first time and I thought it was disgusting. Looking back, I believe this is because he only makes red wine. The next time I tasted the wine my dad cut it with water and that was much better for my palate. Now I compare his wine to store bought wines and have come to the conclusion that my grandfather's wine was very strong. I was never a great part of the wine making process and that is part of the reason I am taking this class, to become knowledgeable enough about the subject to help my grandfather.
My other experiences with wine have always been in social settings. I have had sips of wine at dinner with my family, weddings, parties and when spending time with my friends here at Virginia Tech. When drinking wine with my family, it has almost always been a white wine because both my mother and my aunt really enjoy white wine. I have found that I have the palate for both white and red wine. I have seen both red and white wine at the different weddings I have attended and I believe that the type of wine served just depends on what the bride and groom decide upon. Usually champagne is also served for the toast and that is by far my favorite beverage. While at school and at parties I have tried many different kinds of wines, but it is difficult for me to recall the names of them. I hope by taking this class that the names of the wines will have some meaning to me and I will be able to better describe what types of wines I like and what types I do not enjoy.
