Wino

Working in a restaurant taught me more about food than I could have expected.  I began as a hostess at a new steakhouse in Chicago and for the life of me I never would have guessed that with a four-year degree I could have come into what I thought was a basic job knowing so little.  This past year and a half has taught me a lot -- from service, how to organize events, how to think of details, team work (the real kind, not the BS they tell you about in school when they pair you up in those miserable groups for class projects and 1 or 2 people do all the work, some people pretend to try and that one jack off never even bothers to show up no matter how many emails and texts you sent out).   But one of the best parts of my job? I've learned about wines! 

When I started all I knew was there was red and white.  I'd spent 8 months studying abroad in Italy yet never new enough about wine to even appreciate it.  In a few short months I'd been able to grasp on to qualities of wine and learned words like "tannin."  We also happen to have sommeliers around -- a word I'd also never heard of before.  (It's basically a fancy French term for wine pros -- they are certified and everything!)  In my year and a half I now know the primary variations of red wine (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, zinfandel, bordeaux, (petite) syrah, pinot noir, etc.) and white wines (chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, riesling, moscato, Champagne/Sparking, etc.).  I've discovered I prefer sweet(er) wines, usually whites like Moscatos which are often used for dessert, Riesling (from Germany or also really good from the Oregon/Washington State regions) and Champagnes/Sparkling (Champagne may only be called so if it is actually from the French region of Champagne.  Otherwise it's called "sparkling"). I enjoy Prosecco which is basically Italian Champagne and also Spanish and Portuguese white sparkling wines.  I'm no millionaire so I never spend over $20/bottle (usually around $6 but as much as $15 if I'm feeling fancy).  And if you don't want to spend over $20 for great wine, check out this blog http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/

I'm very excited to be trying this new wine.  I don't drink reds as often as classier folk but I do enjoy a good sweet wine.  I found this at Whole Foods for $10.99 amongst wines, ports and liqueurs that looked tres chic.  I can't lie, the packaging did a lot of the convincing.  The round flask style of the bottle and the calligraphy print felt like an up-scale time warp the moment I put it in the basket.  Not to mention the fabulously simple yet slightly pretentious name:  "Robertson Winery."  (I imagined a good-looking nobleman with a 3 piece, 1800s style suit reading me the name in a British Accent.  Now try reading that again and tell me you wouldn't have bought it too.)

I still have much to learn about wine and will continue to bug more knowledgeable coworkers rather than reading about it myself (but who knows, maybe I should add that to my New Years Resolutions list). 

If you want to learn more about wine, check out the following websites:

RESOURCES:
http://mashable.com/2008/02/25/30-resources-wine/

BLOGS:
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/seven-best-wine-blogs
http://www.vinography.com/wine_blog_list.html

WEBSITES:
http://www.cellarer.com/best-wine-websites

RECOMMENDED:
http://www.vinography.com/
http://www.winespectator.com/
(and of course, google!)