Wine Tastings

Several years ago I took a wine course with the hopes of enhancing my knowledge. The course was held at Florida International University's College of Hospitality. The College of Hospitality at FIU is arguably one of the best in the nation, and their tasting room (donated by Southern Wine & Spirits) is second to none. The temperature in the room can be adjusted to the optimal levels for drinking different wines. The lighting changes depending on if you are drinking whites or reds. It is amazing.

The first couple of classes were a bit intimidating. The instructor was using words like terroir, tannins, A.O.C. etc... These were terms that I generally did not use. My experience with wine was usually finding a bottle at the price I wanted to pay, opening it up and drinking it. I honestly did not care about these terms. After the third class I had an epiphany. I could not care less about these terms! And the wine we were tasting were horrible. I knew enough to know what I liked and what I didn't like.

And that's how I have kept on going. Granted, I am interested in wines from different regions, but I don't tend to care if they kept in American or French Oak. So as we move forward and I begin talking about different wines that I have found or tasted, I will try to keep it as simple for the non oenophiles.