i actually did a wine tour of virginia, and the state does indeed have some quality offerings. there are a lot of wines made in a sweet style
( as that is what is selling in the local market) these wines are actually quite good in context....maybe a picnic or a with fried chicken. don't be put off by these styles, and try some of the varietal cabernet francs. farfelu vinyards makes a really decent syrah. or at least did when i visited in 2004. also , if you can afford it make a pilgramage to the inn at little washington in washington virginia!

Kim: Consider joining us for the dinner on the last Sunday of March. Check out the Maryland offline thread in the offline section!

Brandi
I only recently started to get serious about wine. I'm 30. The people on this forum have an amzing amount of knowledge and MOST of them wil take the time to help you out. What I did was pick a region, learn about it, try a bunch of wines from that region in all price ranges and decide for yourself what you like. My conquest now is Bordeaux..god luck to me! Way too much to chose from. Once you try a bunch of wines, you'll start to learn what you like and then you can narrow your selections. Don't be afraid of cheaper wines. I don't know how much money you have, but a lot of people on the forum seem to have an endless supply! Oh, as shakespeare says...Perchance to dream! HAVE FUN

Thats a great approach zblang
thats what i'm trying to do with Spanish/SA wines

Too young? There is no such thing. Or maybe that's just the naive opinion of someone younger than you Brandi. I've been drinking wine to dinner since I was around 15 and I've really started to develop an interest and a taste in the last years (I'm 21 at the moment).

Taste, taste, taste... that is all there is to it. If you enjoy cooking and drinking decent wine you'll be fine. And if you're like me, not too snobby (partly because I live on a parttime salary!) remember that there are definately fine wines to be had for around $10 (at least from my experience, although I'm not quite so sure on the pricing range in the US), and if you're new to that you'll problably be better off trying a few of those than buying something expensive that you might not fully appreciate.

hi brandi,

some of the best sommeliers/wine advisors i know are in their 20's and 30's. they study wine as if they were in grad school and they live to taste and discover and learn.

don't let anyone hold you back. taste (and spit) and enjoy learning; the more you learn, the more you realize that there is to learn.

last but not least, enjoy sharing wine with others, whether they know more or less about wine than you do.

cheers!
gloria

Not too young at all!

To follow up on Ms. Gloria's point, I myself was working as a Sommelier at the age of 25 at one of Sydney's top fine dining restos.

I started tasting wine when I was around 16 and never stopped...keep self educating and enjoying.


"Carpe Vinum!"

Brandi!

I'm 29 and I was kinda in the same boat as you. Ive been drinking wine now since I was 21 and honestly its addicting! I love it, every part about it. You CANT be too young. You're starting off in the right direction. Remember that everyone likes different kind of wines so stick to what you like at first and you will see that all of a sudden your taste will change. This will happen over and over again. God I love wine!

Too young? You're an adult, you have the world at your feet. Life is too short not to celebrate, and wine is one of those celebrations!!

I don't know if you will still be checking this thread...first off...who cares about someone who can't do his job and help someone ASKING for assistance...second off, we are the NEW generation of wine drinkers.
If you are looking to find a place to expand your palate, try Sonoma Wine Bar and Bistro in Virginia Beach (it is at the Towne Center)...they have tasting flights for reasonable prices good food (go for the lunch menu as the dinner menu is much more expensive for the same thing)
Take care and good luck...

There's no such thing as too young. I'm 23, and I've been tasting regularly for ~4 years.

quote:

Compared to MI, perhaps! Razz A visit to the wrong VA winery could put Brandi off of wines for the rest of her life!!

Brandi - nothing to add to the sentiments expressed - all these people are correct. You're much better off developing both your taste and your manners at a young age, rather than going through life with neither.

But I have to respond to the above quote. Until quite recently I felt exactly the same way, having tasted lots of cherry wine and cheap sweet stuff years ago. But it turns out that today some wineries in Michigan are making some top notch chardonnay and riesling. Who knew? There's a lot of crap of course, but some really good wine too.

Brandi, welcome. Anyone who tries to tell someone to limit their opportunities based on age is just a very narrow person and should be ignored. It speaks more to the the insecurities with which they live and the borders they place on themselves. I don't believe in too young or too old.

Brandi,

I'm 21 - my birthday was in September. I read a lot of books, got hooked on Wine Library TV, and eventually founded a wine club at my school. Dive in!

You've probably got twice as many olfactory cells as that old guy anyway!

btw - I kept a record of my intro to wine on my old blog, Students of Wine. The books I read are mostly there.

22 years old is a great time to get into wine. If you start a cellar in the next couple years you'll still be young when you when your wines are mature.

Uhhhh....boys and girls. Brandi started this thread, and last posted over two years ago. Move on. Nothing to see here.

Brandi is now sucking down peartinis and still trying to figure out her taste preferences.

PH

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:
Uhhhh....boys and girls. Brandi started this thread, and last posted over two years ago. Move on. Nothing to see here.

Brandi is now sucking down peartinis and still trying to figure out her taste preferences.

PH

Yep. She can't pull off that catholic schoolgirl uniform look anymore. What is she? 24 now?