Wine and me

I had always enjoyed a glass of wine but I never really knew what to choose or what to drink...it was one of those..you just were served a glass..you either liked it or not. B was usually my wine picker choosing from his knowledge which wine I would like from the menu. Then there were those nights out when you would ask for the house wine and you would be served the equivalent of gasoline. I would happily drink it thinking it was what wine was like and just think this is what "wine connoisseurs" enjoyed to drink. They knew what they were talking about..... God what a idiot I was back then...and I can't believe some restaurants/hotels have the nerve to serve such drink and charge Dhs. 30 a glass.....

Why did I drink it....well, I don't like beer and was going off spirits. I didn't enjoy the "alcopop" drinks as I was bothered by the sugar levels and their high GI content. I had recently also stopped drinking coffee....all in an effort to save my digestive system. So wine was my last hope of an alcoholic beverage. I would always order the chardonnay..cos I was nervous about trying other wine in case I didn't like it. Red wine was just a no no....I hated the fact of drinking a room temperature drink....it always needed to be ice cold...

For me, my relationship with wine began in Perth, Australia in 2002. We were at the Burswood Hotel. Given we were in wine country I thought well I will give the local wine a bash. B did the ordering....cos I had no idea what to choose. So he chose for me an "Evans & Tate, Chardonnay". B did the tasting and checking and then it was served up. OMG...what a beautiful flavour....I couldn't believe wine could taste this good....I finished the bottle...it was like a whole new world opened with that bottle. A few days later we went on the Sandleford wine tour which involved a boat trip down the swan river to the Sandleford vine yard. We learnt all about wine, how its made, how it tasted, what to taste for, characteristics....everything. Infact we had a game on board afterwards to test us on what we had learnt and I was so pleased cos I won and got a free bottle of Sandelford Verdelho. I was so chuft with myself.

I knew from that point..that wine now had a different meaning to me and that there was a whole world of wine out there that I hadn't tapped or even seen. Now, I was prepared to take it on. Chardonnays, turned to Savignon Blanc, then to Chenin Blancs... I took on the red wine world....now I drink more red than white. My favourite grape currently is Malbec...

Earlier this year I took my wine enthusiam to the next level and got myself the WSET - intermediate level. This the the Wine, Spirits and alcoholic beverages education training. Its always a running joke now that I have a qualification in wine drinking but it really was a fantastic course. I wanted to learn more about what I was drinking and expand my knowledge and understanding of what to look for when I am choosing wine and drinking it.

Now I just pick up bottles, read the label and buy it. "Give it a try" I say. If you don't like it you never have to buy it again. You get the pleasure of trying different flavours and types...and since then I have tried not only australian and new zealand wines, but wines from california, from chile, from south africa, from argentina. I have to spread further now and try lebanon, jordan, Indian, European wines all sorts. I recently saw wine from Uraguay..so next time I will buy that. My fantasy choices are english wine and ice wine from canada. Why do I call them my fantasy wines, well because I can never find them and the thought of seeing and trying it is all just in my imagination. One day ...this wine fantasy will come true....

So, what is this blog all about. Well I have decided to document the wine that I drink and hopefully over the fullness of time I will have a diary of my wine drinking adventures. I will write about what i liked, what I didn't like and see how it related to the food I was eating with it. May be even give the wine my own "windex". This is my WIne index rating. It out of 10, pretty simple to rate...its in the end all about the taste. Here the index

o - awful...just awful...never touch the stuff again.
1 - Nope...its not worth it really.....
2 - why do people bother to make wine this bad....the smell should be enough to put you off.
3 - I think we got something there but really...there is better...
4 - Its OK...I would drink it again but I would want to mix it with a fruit juice or soft drink just to bring it too life.
5 - Not bad - not my favourite, not my worst choice. Its definately glugable and I would serve this up at a party cos it would suit lots of people and wouldn't hurt them
6 - Its good, I would drink it again, if there was nothing else on the menu that I liked I would probably have drunk that.
7 - We are on to something here. It taste great, and I am impressed. I would buy this again for sure...
8 - Very acceptable. This looks great, smells lovely, the drink is very enjoyable and I am about to open the second bottle on this one...
9 - A great wine. Taste and smelt great. It was such an enjoyable drink. Am not really keen on sharing...people should get their own bottle...
10 - An outstanding wine. These wine folk really know their wine, it smells fantastic, it taste great, it just outstanding. I need to buy more of this...this did it for me..

So here is my Windex....this what i will rate my wine against. Remember wine is all very personnel, just cos a wine is expensive doesn't mean its good but just cos a wine is cheap doesn't mean its good either.

Buy it, try it and drink it.....is my motto.....

If its a great wine hopefully you will associate really happy memories with it too....

happy wine drinking....