Wine-troduction

I've never been one for introductions. Can't we just all act like we're already BFF? Because I'm sure we will be by the time the bottle's done.

Joking aside... welcome to the most recent of my blogging attempts. I've blogged many times before but this is the first time I've done it under a certain theme-- that theme being wine, of course! They say to write about what you love, so I'm gonna give it a go.

My shaky introductory skills have caused my About Me section to be a bit lacking. But I want to make sure this blog stays focused on the vino and not on me. But why read this blog if you & I are strangers? There's no fun in that! So, here is my About Me:

Hi! I'm Nikki. Enchanté. I should warn you now that my posts will be dotted with (and occassionally, entirely written in) French. I cannot tell you exactly how long I have been drinking wine for, partly because A) I don't remember exactly, and B) I'm sure it was well before I was of legal (U.S.) drinking age. But my fascination with wine has been long in the making: the history, the science, the production, the culture, even the pleasing shapes of bottles & stemware. I used to beg my mom to let me trace my dampened finger along the rim of her crystal wine glass, revelling in that deep, hollow tone, a sound not unlike the one created by wind blowing over the mouth of the wine bottle.

Fast forward to adult life: fine wine has yet to find its place in college culture, and the endearing complexity of wine was lost to my tequila-shooting self for quite awhile. But one day in November 2002, on the beaches of Kaua'i, a magical, 21-year-old clock chimed. My very first legal (American) alcohol purchase was a bottle of red wine. Shortly thereafter, I realized that wine was much more enjoyable than alcohol consumed in Jell-O form, and a bonafide wine-o was born.

In the following years, I returned to my hometown in northern California. My passion for wine complimented my other passion: travel. I was blessed with the opportunity to spend a semester in France. The Loire Valley, and its incredible wines, will always hold a most special place in my heart, for it was during this period that I really started to develop a sense, knowledge and taste of the regional wines. Entire days were devoted to sipping Touraines on a clear spring day, finding just the right-- not too sweet!-- Anjou rosé, and of course, indulging in my Loire Valley darling (sparkling Vouvray). Man, this is the life for me! My passport may say American, but j'suis française à ma cœur! My return to la France became not a question of "if," but "when?"

Back in San Francisco, I nursed my epic case of reverse culture shock with wine: learning it, tasting it, loving it. That September, I met the one person who has had the greatest impact on my wine passion to date, and alongside him we have embarked on an increasingly exciting path with even greater potential for learning (please see For the Love of Wine (Away)). But, it wasn't enough to keep my curiousity satisfied...

One year later I set out for my next wine adventure, to the land where a certain monk once beckoned, "Come quickly, I am drinking stars!" Have I mentioned that stars have always been my thing? It seemed fitting that I would embark on my next adventure in the land of bubbles, of drinkable stars: Champagne. So there I was, 7+ months in the fields of France. It was during this time that I discovered the novelty of a red Champagne (guess what? no bubbles!), the joy of exclaiming, "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!" (and sampling the new harvest with my colleagues in the teachers lounge), the simple pleasures of wandering into the local wine shops, greeting the owner, and walking away with a €4 bottle specifically chosen to complement my meager meal of baguette & toppings. Wine tasting in France was a completely different adventure, with completely new knowledge to bestow upon me.

Napa, Epernay, Porto, Paso Robles... these are all locales famous for their wines. They are also just a scratch on the surface of my ever-growing list of must-visit places pertaining to wine. Someday I will sample Shiraz in Australia, and Pinot Grigio in Venice, and... well I won't get ahead of myself. I will simply say in closing that the world is my vineyard...

Cheers!