Baby's First Blog Post

Salutations! My name is Brian Bogert, and I am nervous. This is for two primary reasons. First off, I have never really blogged before, and sharing my thoughts in general is just sort of tough for me historically. But I am excited that this class is forcing me outside of my comfort zone with regards to this, and I look forward to sharing a little piece of my world with those who are interested!

Secondly, I am incredibly intimidated by wine. Hearing my parents discuss the infamous beverage growing up, I knew that it had an... effect on people that was unmatched by little else. Some sort of elixir with a variety of colors and names I couldn't pronounce. And because I such was a goody-two shoes, despite my mom and dad basically begging me to drink some wine on a semi-regular basis, I never had more than a few sips until after my Freshman year of college. In all honesty, seeing the thirty bottles of Cabernet Sauvingnon that my mom bought for my college graduation might have been a bit of a deterrent as well!

Even after overcoming the alcohol hurdle, I still tended to stay away from wine because honestly - I didn't like it. Particularly with red wine, I did not like how dry and bitter the initial taste was, and I struggled to find anything enjoyable that would overcome that. Whites I enjoyed a bit more, and there was many a special occasion where something bubbly was consumed, but in general beer and mixed drinks still were king in my mind. I could enjoy all those without being snobby or dealing with dryness, and they could get me drunk easier!

In time, this view softened somewhat, thanks to a combination of living with my parents, going to multiple weddings, and a significantly increased tannin tolerance (as I eventually came to know the proper verbage). Cut to last semester, when I visited the Blacksburg Wine Lab for the first time with one of my friends. He told me to try the Desert Wine flight, and suddenly my preconception of what wine could be was shattered. I wanted to learn more about what could cause all these differences, why wine is so commonplace, the cultural differences seen through the grapes, and just how to be able to talk about the dang thing. Given that this is my last semester here, I knew taking the Geography of Wine class was the best way forward, and I am so incredibly excited to go on this journey!