Introduction and My Experiences with Wine

 Hello everyone! My name is Emily and this is my first post on my wine blog for the class Geography of Wine, taught by Prof. Boyer. I would consider myself an amateur wine drinker, as I've only really started exploring wine in the past year and a half. 

I tend to gravitate towards sweeter wines such as Moscato or Rosé.  My favorite wines so far have been Oliver's Blueberry Moscato and Pacific Fruit Vineyard's Sweet Mango. I have also enjoyed sweet mead, specifically Blacksnake Sweet Virginia. I really enjoy fruity and honey flavors. I have not yet gone wine tasting anywhere, but I am excited to partake in such activities this semester! For the most part I have been exploring wine from the comfort of my own home with close friends, which has been fun. I try new wines fairly frequently, possibly a few times a month I would say.

I have also found that I am not a fan of dry wines or many red wines. I don't like earthy or mocha flavors as I have found out, which tends to be what many of the red wines I have tried taste like. I tend to stay away from any wine that has Pinot in the beginning of it's name as well haha. I have not had great experiences with those. 

I look forward to learning more about different flavors of wine as well as how they are made. Specifically I would like to know what makes a Moscato a Moscato or a Riesling a Riesling. I took the beer brewing course last semester, and most beer companies are named after where the water they use comes from. I am curious to know if this applies to wine as well, or if there is a different naming mechanic. I also want to learn about the history of wine, how it started, and why it has become such a prominent piece of many different cultures around the world.