My Personal Experience with Wine prior to Geography of Wine Class:

My name is Yatharth Shukla, and I am currently a senior at Virginia Tech. I turned 21 four months ago, so I am still quite inexperienced with wine. Living in the town of Blacksburg, it is easier to get shots at the bars than go wine tasting to wine shops/restaurants. In addition, most college students know about boxed wines like Franzia, which students drink just to get intoxicated rather than enjoying the flavor. I was introduced to wine for the first time through my roommate's girlfriend.

She is from Chile, where drinking wine regularly is a very common thing. On her birthday, I tried Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a type of red wine that is bitter in taste. It also felt really dry. Surprisingly, I loved the taste of it. Since then, I have been a fan of dark red bitter wines. I tried going out of my comfort zone to try different types of wines.

I tried Moscato, which is usually accompanied with desserts. I didn't like it that much, and I soon came to a realization that I am not really fond of fruity sweet wines. I enjoy dark bitter wines, and I can say for certain that I prefer red wine over white wine. Through this class, I want to learn more about the different types of wines there are, and hopefully discover new types of wines that I enjoy to drink. Furthermore, it would be great to know the geography of wine and the journey it takes to get from the grapes on the vines to the glass in my hand.

-Yatharth Shukla