When people ask me what my drink is, wine has always been my day 1 answer. I am that girl with bagged wine on a lanyard around her neck at most football tailgates. I have progressively acquired tastes for beer and liquor since turning 21, but before, I assumed all beer would embody the taste of Busch or Natural Light, so wine was really the only option. My grandmother is a 1st generation German and has been drinking wine since she was 13, so naturally, her mission in grandmotherhood was to acquaint her grandchildren to tastes of the grape. However, with my mom self diagnosing her allergy to wine and always preferring beer, I suppose one could say I grew up in a blended family of alcohol preference. But to this day, I pray that I will never acquire my mom's wine "allergy".
     I live less than half a mile from La Grange Winery in Haymarket Virginia, and on occasion I enjoy sneaking in to their Wine of the Month Club tastings. I have always enjoyed white wine, but I more recently have acquired a taste for reds especially during the fall and winter. A couple of years ago, I thought sweet wines like Moscato and Rose were the best thing to ever happen just like most other basic teenage girls, but then I finally equated those wines to spins and awful sugar headaches, so now I only occasionally enjoy them as the dessert wine purpose they serve. I would have to say one of my more favorite wines is White Zinfandel with my weird guilty pleasure being anything Franzia or boxed/bagged wine related.
    This past summer I studied abroad in Spain and made sure to get my daily dose of Sangria, Tinto de Verano, or various other reds. After trying wines popular to other cultures, I decided I wanted to broaden my taste and knowledge in wine and take Geography of Wine! I expect this class to be one of my most intriguing and interactive classes in all of college, despite being an online course. One thing I am excited for this semester is learning what wines pair best with certain foods. One thing I do know is that CVS Yellow Tail Pinot Noir pairs really well with grilled cheese during this Snowpocalypse 2016.