My Limited Knowledge of Wine

My first experience with any beverage having anything to do with wine was back when my parents used to drink wine coolers and box wine. I assume I annoyed my mom enough about it, she let me have a sip of her wine cooler. As you may know, wine coolers have very little alcohol in them so this "adult beverage" tasted like an awesome fruit juice to me. I don't think it registered to me that it was indeed alcohol because one time when my parents went out to dinner and I was being babysat by my older brother, I drank one of her wine coolers because I was thirsty. When they found out it was missing, I confessed to drinking it. However they forgave me when they realized that I honestly though it was a non-alcoholic beverage.

During my under-21 years, I had several legal run-ins with wine. In fact, while traveling in Israel with my mother, I visited my first winery, the Golan Heights Winery. There I eagerly tasted a variety of reds and whites and found a taste for the Rieslings. The Rieslings I tried were very sweet, which was the typical pallet for someone of my age at the time. After the tasting, we went walked over to the store to buy what we liked. While my mother was perusing the rows of bottles, I found a nice little area by the window to sit down. This, I do believe, was the moment I learned what "being tipsy" felt like.

Another memorable under the legal age experience occurred while on a week long cruise in the Caribbean with my family. At the time, US drinking laws did not extend to US owned cruise ships in international or foreign waters. So, again, my drinking was legal. My uncle from California insisted upon drinking wine at dinner the first night on the water. He selected for us a Francis Ford Coppola red. Not sure what type of red, but I remember the name of the bottle because we drank one or two of them every single night for dinner. It was very memorable to have waiters offer me, a sixteen year old with braces, a large glass of wine. 

Fast forward six years, skipping over the beer and liquor phases, and reach my now 22-year old self. Being a typical college girl for this age, I am very well acquainted with the sweet, fruity flavor of Moscato and all the musical lyrics associated with it. It is one of my favorites simply because it tastes like a box of Welch's white grape juice but it gives me a great buzz. My roommates and I are also huge fans of Rieslings and the apple and blackberry wines from Chateau Morrisette.