The more your are exposed to wine, the more you'll learn to love it. An alien flavor the first time out will have a ring of familiarity the second go-round.
At least that's my observation. It has been our mission at The Wine Country to expose as many people as possible to the wide world of wine, not just one little corner of it. A large part of that mission is fulfilled during our many tastings, classes and seminars, and the one I take personal responsibility for is our Wine 101 class, designed to introduce new people to the breadth of available wines, and a little about their context as well--some history, some geography and a lot of food pairing advice.
Wine is daunting for those on the outside. People with little experience in wine are intimidated by the sheer selection, the prices, and particularly the attitudes of those supposedly in the know. So they tickle around the edges, finding a "safe" wine they find pleasant or worse, avoiding wine altogether.
That's where Wine 101 comes in--the next class is Friday October 7 at 7:30 p.m. ($30 by reservation)--an introduction and tasting that allows people to experience some of the world's most thrilling beverages.
If you know someone who is new to wine, or would simply like to sample a variety of good wine, tell them about this enjoyable sit-down class. We all have to start somewhere. Even our staff.
Which brings me to the most important part of this post. One of the newest members of our team, Jennifer Wisniewski, came to us as a wine newbie--we retained her to help us with our online order processing and to compose the e-mails you get from us every week. She, like so many others, knew little about wine when she joined us, but she had an indispensible quality--curiosity. She submitted the following essay for our October newsletter (available on our website at www.thewinecountry.com) which chronicles the first steps of her wine journey from a one-wine palate to a blossoming appreciation for some pretty sophisticated wines. I share it with you here.
An Affair to Remember
A Neophyte's First Exploration Into The World of Fine Wines
by Jennifer Wisniewski
I was determined to learn everything I could about all these wines that I had never experienced.
Until that first class, my wine experience was limited to sweet sparkling wines, like a lot of people. Everyone who knows me knows that I have a huge sweet tooth. So, of course, sweet sparkling wines like Moscato D’Asti are perfectly suited to my palate. I never really wanted to try anything else. Like most people I know, when I find something that I really like, I tend to stick with it and not try anything else.
Let me tell you, that first tasting, taught by our Italian wine expert Ronnie Grant, was a real eye-opening experience! I went in to it thinking that I probably wouldn’t like any of the wines, but I was determined to try them all and at least learn about them. That way, if someone asked me, I could give my honest opinion about the wines and let them know what they were like. And boy!, did I pick a whopper of a tasting to start with!
The tasting that introduced me to my new love: Piedmont 101, an introduction to Italian wines from the northern region of Piedmont. Starting with nice bright whites and finishing with a beautifully sweet sparkling wine that was so familiar and welcoming, but with a new spin. It has become one of my new favorite wines to sip. By the time the tasting was over, I felt like I had been on a whirlwind trip around Italy, and then come home to my soft, warm blanket on my comfortable old couch.
We started the tasting with a pair of white wines. I figured these would be nice and refreshing, maybe a little sweet. Up until that point al the white wines I had ever tasted were sweet. Boy was I wrong. These wines were dry, and light. No sweetness at all. One of them had a slightly nutty flavor… Needless to say, they were very far from what I was expecting. The first one I tasted, I was surprised to find that I liked. I had fully expected to take one taste and then pour the rest into the handy little buckets placed strategically along the table. I ended up drinking the entire thing! Granted, it was only about 1.5 ounces, but still…
Then from the whites, we moved on to the reds. Let me just tell you, these red wines had some definite power to them. To someone like me, who had never really experienced wines like these, they were a jolt to my palate in a big way. The first red I tasted was peppery and bold, with a little spice on the backswing. That was the moment I took my first step into my great love affair…
All the wines that came after that first sip seduced me more and more, until I couldn’t believe that I had turned my nose up at sampling wines like these since I had been old enough to take my first drink (legally… growing up in an Irish family you practically drink from birth...)
Now, since that tasting, I have attended many others here at The Wine Country, and I am sure to be going to many more. I have found some other great wines that I have loved. However, I will always remember those first wines I tasted, and how they brought me to my first love. Who knew that the first time I fell in love, it would be with Italy? And I can tell you, I can feel that this love affair is going to last for a long time to come.
Wines from Piedmont 101 that I fell in love with:
Stefano Massone 2010 Masera Gavi
Massone’s Masera vineyard produces a Gavi that has an intense and enduring nose, but it’s definitely the crispness and fruitiness on the palate that truly arouses the wine-lover in me. Like most of the Italian whites here in the store this unquestionably works best at the table; maybe fish, light soups, poultry, or even appetizers. Gavi is made from the Cortese varietal, and that is all Stefano Massone produces.$16.99 per bottle
Produttori del Barbaresco 2006 Barbaresco
One of the best in Barbaresco. The best thing about this bottling is you can pull the cork now—without cellaring the wine for a number of years—and get immediate pleasure out of the wine.$32.99 per bottle
Elio Perrone 2010 Bigaro
If you’re looking for one bottle of wine and you have to choose between a Moscato d’Asti and Brachetto d’Acqui, what do you do? Grab a bottle of this. It’s made from both Moscato and Brachetto, two of Piedmont’s great grape varietals. It’s a very enthralling bottle of wine.$18.99 per bottle
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