My Wine Background

          My name is Chris Nesaw, and I am a Mechanical Engineering Undergrad at Virginia Tech. This is the first post in my wine blog for A Geography of Wine Class taught by professor Boyer. First, a brief background about myself and my history with wine. My first experience with wine was in Sonoma Valley, California. Although I was under the drinking age at the time, I was able to go on many of the winery tours throughout the area, such as the Kendall-Jackson and Korbel Wineries. It was here that I first learned the basics of wine and wine-making. While the rest of my family was tasting the local wines, I was left to my sparkling grape juice, which was fine with me. Wine is an acquired taste, and I had no inclination to try it after having spit out numerous times at family dinners. It wasn't until another family vacation shortly after my 21st birthday that I first began to like the taste. It was a selection of extremely lavish wine: white and red Barefoot Refresh and a few bottles of Sutter Home. I enjoyed it so much that I now make sure to have a bottle of wine on hand for home-cooked meals.

          Most of the the wine I purchase is the bottom-shelf, sub $10 wine. My two go-to's are Barefoot and Sutter Home, both of which are family favorites. Neither of these wines have very distinct tastes, but I enjoy them and the price is hard to beat. I drink both red and white wine equally, and try to pair them with whatever I'm eating, typically red with steak and white with chicken and fish. Of all the wines I've tried, red zinfandel is my favorite. I like the heat of the wine, which i think pairs nicely with just about anything.

          There are a number of reasons I took the Geography of Wine course, the most important of which is to get educated about wine. Right now when I go to buy a bottle, i typically only get what I've had before, which isn't much of a range. I'm hoping that I'll gain some tools that will help me to go shopping for wine with a bit more knowledge. I'm also looking forward to all the free win tastings that I'll be attending this semester. Hopefully by the end of the class, I'll have a few more favorites to add to my list.