The First of Many

January 1, 2010

For a long time I have felt, there is something missing in my life. I have always known that I love to write, and at times I can actually be good at it, but I never knew how to apply it to my life as a hobby.

A week before Christmas I decided, I need to do something with my life. Anything was better than the stagnant life I have been living for going on two years now. I knew there was something I was good at and something I could do everyday and write about with passion.

As I thought about this, I came up with the challenge, I wanted to learn more about wine, how its made, what it tastes like, how it makes me feel and why I have such an admiration for this libation.

I talked for hours with co-workers, friends and family until they probably felt it was time for me to seek treatment for this behavior. I wanted to start a blog, this blog would be a journey about my life and how wine fits into it. I never even knew deciding on a name for the blog was going to be such a challenge.

One thing was certain, I was going to start drinking my wine on the first day of the new year! So here I sit on January 1, 2010 with what has to be one of the most unappreciated, highly sweet, and ever so disapointing wine I could think of to start with: Beringer White Zinfandel. The best way to describe this glass that I am trying to get down in order to have another 2 or 3 is reminiscent of, sugar water with a little kick.

I felt I owed it to myself and anyone else out there who may question, what exactly this full and fruit forward wine was all about so, according to the Beringer website, they are the oldest winery in Nappy Valley, established in 1876 by German born transplant, Jacob Beringer.

White Zinfandel is also known as the best selling wine of all time. This easy drinking, lighter and slightly sweeter wine is made from a very good grape - the Zinfandel. The Zinfandel grape is red. There's no such thing as a white Zinfandel grape, so here's the story:

White Zinfandel gets its blush of color from the deep red skin of the Zinfandel grape. When the grapes are harvested, the skins are left on for only a short time, a few hours to a day, perhaps. The weight of the grapes, pressing against each other, extracts a pretty pink-tinged juice. In contrast, a winemaker making red Zinfandel wine will leave the juice and the red skins in contact for days or weeks, producing a deep red juice.

As I sit here, not too sure if I am getting a sugar high from this glass, or if I am actually feeling the effects of this rare gem in the family of wine. I now must spell out what will be taking place in the coming months.

I have dedicated to drinking 200 wines in the next 8 months. Now, don't go calling my local AA, this does not mean I will be drinking a bottle of wine a day, or breaking the bank while doing so. It could possibly take me a day or two, maybe even three to drink each wine and when baseball season rolls around and I can't wait to get my hands on an ice cold beer, I will not let my readers down. Wine will be had! That is my vow, my promise to you and to myself.

I look forward to this Journey Through Wine, sharing, exploring, growing learning and well, yes, indulging.

Cheers!