When people ask me what my wine pedigree is, I often say “I used to be a wine snob…now I’m a wine slob.” The truth of the matter is I’ve come a long way in my wine drinking experiences over the years. I’ve learned a lot, and had a lot of really good mentors along the way who were patient in explaining what was good, and what was rot gut.
My own experience stems back to my childhood. No, I’m not going to write about debauchery and underage drinking. However, I was raised in a simple farming community in the Boise valley. In my early teens a new winery was raised by a local fruit farming family named the Symms. This new winery was called Ste. Chapelle.
Ste. Chapelle made wonderful wines in the day. Fantastic Cabernet Sauvignons, beautiful Chardonnays, and great Merlots. But, they became known for one thing which sprung them into international notoriety…their Johannesburg Riesling. A spicy sweet concoction that made the mouth tingle and the girls go wild.
As a young, legal drinking age male, I was very interested in making girls go wild. So, my buddies and I would drive our female friends out to the winery for free samples of the gooey stuff. We’d pick up a few bottles and head for the river. I did mention that Ste. Chapelle had wonderful red wines, but to our uneducated palates this stuff tasted terrible.
Fast forward a few years to my young professional life. I got married, got a career, and started a family. The gooey sweet wines were left behind for Cabernet and Syrah. I only drank reds for about 15 years. Over the past four to five years that I’ve re-developed an interest in white wines. Even tasting some fabulous ice wines and loving them.
Enough about me, and my Idaho, farm-boy past. I’m ready to talk about you and where you are in your palate. What kind of a wine drinker are you? If someone hands you a glass do you politely dump it in their houseplant and get a beer? Do you know the proper way to serve wines to your guests?
Today’s young professionals are savvier than we were back in 1980. They are more willing to try nice wines, and understand the nuances that make up a really good wine. As I talk with today’s young professionally minded people I’m constantly impressed with their knowledge and their palates.
Enter a new era of wine drinking. Through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, there are many new avenues for these youthful trendsetters to reach out and tell each other what is going on in the world of wine.
A group of these individuals have started a new social media driven website that offers blogs, facebook updates, and twitter to tell others about the world of wine. Palatebomb.com will go online the evening of July 20th, 2009.
If you are interested in attending the “detonation” event, network with other wine minded people, and have a great time come to Bookwalter winery in Richland Monday night. The event starts at 6 p.m. and goes until closing. There will be music, raffles, wine tastings, a no-host wine bar, food, and more. If you can’t make it to the event I suggest going to http://www.palatebomb.com/ and getting linked up.
Hope to see you there!
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