My first experience with wine was at my First Communion. My great-grandfathers were raging alcoholics, so we've always been steered away from the alcohol scene. This holy experience was no exception. My mother told me I wasn't even allowed to drink the wine at my First Communion, so like the perfect little angle I was, I didn't. Thus began my self-proclaimed acting career, as I innocently walked away from the chalice after so convincingly "taken the wine."
My first concrete experience with wine was in Spain in 2011. I was 19, and so was the drinking age. Still scared of my apparent inherited alcoholism, (as my mother had convinced us all that was our fate should we ever take a sip...) I refused to drink. I did make an exception when I signed up for a special cooking session one night. We visited an awesome Spanish chef and make paella (with rabbit hearts and chicken), rice with squid ink, and Spanish Sangria. Everything was delicious sans conejo, which I pointedly refused, because who was I to cheat on my pet bunny back home?
To prepare Sangria, we were told to use the cheapest red wine in the house, because by the time the sugar and fruit was added, the flavor was to be dramatically different anyway. And by gosh was that the truth. Any idea how much sugar goes in a vat of Sangria? Like 3 times the weight of the rabbit that was used for the paella. So we stirred that in for a while, added some Fanta Limón which only exists in Europe, unfortunately, and then all the fruit. Valencia oranges were a given, and fresh lemons and green apples contributed some sugar-balancing tartness.
When the food was ready and Sangria poured, we ate. I cautiously tried my drink, tasting alcohol for the first time. I don't think I even finished it, honestly. I think I was scared to like it. It was pretty strong to me, (though in retrospect probably not at all...) but I have fond memories of it either way. All part of the experience!
Since then, I turned legal in America and have sipped numerous red wines that my dad likes to order at restaurants, a couple Argentinean white wines in Ecuador, champagne at a wedding, and some really tart cranberry wine my mom got for Christmas. I've also had a few nasty wines with friends, but that's to be expected. I hate being restaurant ignorant when it comes to the wines list, so I'm excited to start wine tasting and learning about all the different varieties and intricacies of this beverage. I'd also like to break my father of his wine-ist Merlot shell.
Cheers to a great semester!
