My Qualifications as a Sommelier

Here's what I know about wine:

• It's made from grapes.
• It contains alcohol.
• I like it. A lot.

Does this qualify me as a sommelier or expert? Probably not.

I enjoy attending wine tastings and pretend to listen as the sommelier explains what is in my glass. Then I dutifully swirl it around, smell, and down the hatch.

Joe and I began drinking wine approximately seven years ago. We began with Beringer White Zinfandel. Over the years, our tastes have changed and we now tend towards dry red wines. In fact, at this point I'd say a wine cannot be too dry for me but it can definitely be too sweet.

Some of my favorite reds:

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Pinot Noir
• Côtes du Rhône
• Malbec

I'm not as big of a fan of whites in general but I've been known to enjoy:

• Chardonnay
• Riesling
• Chenin Blanc

I'm definitely not a pretentious wine snob. I don't pretend to know enough about it to ever call myself that. I like to think wine (and many other things) is similar to music: a wide variety of each exists to serve a wide variety of tastes. We're all free to enjoy what we want to enjoy.

All of which is the long way to say - I like what I like. I'll share that here. You may not agree. Or you may. In which case, feel free to tip your sommelier.