Why I'm taking this class

Wine didn't make its way into my life until my dad began drinking Napa Cabs during my high school years.  I remember picking up the bottle and reading the label's description: "hints of pencil lead, cedar, and tobacco..."  All of those things were elements I was taught not to ingest from the age of three and yet here was an expensive bottle of alcohol proudly boasting an infant's taboo buffet.  I poured a small amount into a glass and tried it.  I wasn't sure what I tasted but I did know it seemed nothing like the description.  Is that all just marketing nonsense? I wondered.

Fast forward to my early professional years, and I had slowly begun drinking wine alongside my coworkers and friends.  I still never picked up any of the taste or aroma descriptors but was able to distinguish that a Pinot tasted different from a Cab or a Syrah and which ones I liked most.  I had discovered a penchant for extremely expensive wines, particularly those with smoother tannins, but found this to be a problem for my limited budget.  My exposure to more budget friendly wines had multiple mediocre experiences that made me wonder if it was possible to get an enjoyable wine below $50.

Then, a few years ago, I saw the Somm documentary on Netflix.  My jaw dropped as three Master Sommelier candidates blind tasted a set of wines and used the exact same descriptions that I had always assumed was marketing mumbo-jumbo.  It seemed that there was indeed an almost underground world that existed in wine if you knew how to look for it.  The rich history and broad expanses of the industry impressed me, and I realized I wanted to know more.  As I began to learn more about the wine world, I realized that there was a shockingly minimal amount of ingredients involved: grapes, yeast, and wood (sometimes).  Yet people were capable of creating bottles that consumers would be willing to pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for, and all of it came down to process and business execution.

Even as I acknowledged the slim likelihood I ever find my way into the wine industry, I knew I wanted to this this course to peer behind the curtain and understand more.