Monday, October 18, 2010

Long road ahead

I have always loved the taste of wine and felt that there is something magical about the process of drinking it.  Unlike other beverages, wine seems to be more of a visceral experience.  The process of tasting wine requires you to use all of your senses from the visual inspection, the action of swirling, the smelling, and the tasting.  I must admit that though I can go through all these motions and do enjoy the process, I am still very much an amateur wine lover.  I have a general understanding of what I like and dislike.  But in selecting a wine I can still be tempted by a flashy looking label, which subsequently is a great marketing trick for people on my limited wine knowledge level.  My goal in starting this blog is to track my wine education process.  I am not trying to become the world's greatest sommelier or even the next Robert Parker.  I am simply trying to increase the pleasurable experience that is tasting wine.  My husband and I both have been experimenting with making homemade wine.  It's been a fun and interesting process which has really sparked our desire to do more.  We would love to consider starting our own vineyard some day.  But it would really help to have more of a grasp on the subject before we do.  I hope to be somewhat of a source for others going through the same process.  On the other end of the spectrum I do hope to gain advice from people who have a bit more of a sophisticated palate than I have.

So on that note I would like to share with you a few of the reference books I have ordered from Amazon to get started.

Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk From a Master Sommelier by Andrea Robinson
Wine Tasting Notebook by Steve De Long
Windows on the World Wine Course 2009 by Kevin Zraly
How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine by Jancis Robinson
The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil
 The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting and Running a Winery by Thomas Pellechia

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