While my friends spent their spring breaks on beaches, in the mountains, or venturing home, I went to school. When my father first told me that he had signed us up for a multi-day wine immersion course, I was exasperated. After all, what 21 year old wants to spend their spring break in a classroom, learning about something that has no relevance to them? Boxed wine or $200 bottle, I couldn’t have told you the difference, nor did I particularly care. But after only two days at the San Francisco Wine School, I emerged with a fascinating new hobby.
Alcohol as an industry had never held much importance to me. Grain makes beer, potatoes make vodka, wine makes grapes, and there wasn’t much more to it than that. Pretty boring, or so I thought. This was until master sommelier, David Glancy, opened my eyes to the rich complexities that surround wine, and all of the sudden it made sense to me why humans had spent hundreds of years perfecting the craft. There is so much that goes into a single bottle, thousands of miniscule factors that layer over each other to create completely unique flavors.
Grape variety, soil type, climate, ripeness, oakiness, age, and tannins are just a few that I was able to learn about, all of which deeply fascinated me in their own way. Beyond physical characteristics, I also got to learn about country specific classifications and regulations around selling and making wine. I tasted over 20 different wines throughout the course, whites and reds originating from all over the world, from Argentina to France. What surprised me the most is that for the first time, I was actually able to taste the difference between them and pinpoint where it was coming from. Some were light and simple, some were rich and intricate, but I finally had the words to explain what made them different. It was like my frontal lobe was developing before my very eyes. So this is what all the buzz was about!
As the class went on, we began discussing how to care for and store wine, how to build a collection, and, my personal favorite, how to pair wines with foods, and I started to realize that wine knowledge might be a broader life skill than I originally thought. My mother’s friend once told me that knowing wine was the only networking skill you’d ever need, because it is a universal conversation starter, and I’m inclined to agree. Past the intrigue of learning about wine making techniques and wine making history, knowing about it might actually be a valuable life skill. So, while I am probably one of the only 21 year olds that knows this much about wine, I shouldn’t be. Don’t wait until your 30s to dive into the beautiful world of viniculture!