Sip fine wines.....

Does anyone out there know anything about wines? Besides the fact that they are made out of grapes?

I can honestly tell you that I know jack all about wines. I have decided that I will no longer be socially ignorant to fine wines. Essentially, I'm gong to learn the lingo, the different varieties, what wines go with what kinds of food, the best regions for each type of wine and so on. My motivation for doing so? 1/2 work, 1/2 social I guess. I go to work functions and friday night drinks, and I feel quite inadequate drinking wine at dinner - my pallete isn't quite used to it yet. When the wine list comes around at dinner, I'm like "what is this?".

So I've been reading up on wines, googling phrases like "drinking wine", "how to drink wine", etc. Coming from a conservative, middle class, Asian family, I haven't been exposed to this kind of drinking culture at all. You could say that we are only used to ordering "green tea/bo-lei" /water / Coke at restaurants.

Aside from that, I've purchased the ultimate book: "The Idiots Guide to Wine". It's quite user friendly, in simple terms, and covers all the basics. Much like how Ivan bought some books on mens fashion so he could make sure he looked good and dressed right for work, I'm doing the same with wine.

Very soon, I'll be able to tell you the difference between a Merlot, and a Shiraz (a much spicier and fruitier wine), distinguish between a wine from Coonawarra to one made in the Hunter Valley. Drop' some science on what a Cab Sav is, telling y'all how storing the wine in a oak barrel makes the taste different to a steel barrel, and learning how to drink wine properly.

But ultimately, the best learning experience is actually from drinking the product. Not getting trashed but learning the differnet tastes on your pallete and experimenting on what wines go with what foods, and finding out what my wine "profile" is.

As Kanye said "It's the last call for alcohol/why don't you raise your glass with me". I think socially and if you plan on moving in important business circles, its vital that you understand and appreciate fine wines. I want to be able to have a deep conversation with someone about wines - other than Zhang spewing up Shiraz on his white pants @ Bamboo.

Peace Out,

DJ Ho.