la dégustation

So...three weeks in and already I went wine tasting! IT WAS AMAZING! A local American woman who has her wine certificate (it's actually a Masters!?? who knew?) hosted a class for students in Aix. She had it in her adorable apartment, and I met lots of cool new people. At the beginning of the class she said "who is not able to legally drink in their home country?" and I was the only one who raised my hand haha. Everyone was very happy for me it was funny - especially the other Europeans.

French wine is not sold like American wine by the type of grape. It is sold by the region where it is made. In Aix, we have the best weather conditions in the world for making rosé. I learned that the color of wine has nothing to do with the grape juice - the juice is all white. The color depends on how long you leave the juice with the skin while it is fermenting. Rosé can be as dark or as light as the producer wants. Also, wine in France is never 100% of one flavor - it is usually always mixed.

I happened to like the light fruity wines and the dark spicy ones. We had yummy fruit with the light wines and dark chocolate with the red. We took little sips of each one - and learned all about snobby wine etiquette. Swirl swirl swirl, SNIFF! and sip! Hilary gave us a wine wheel aroma to help us figure out which tastes we liked best. There was so much to remember! At the end they served us a student-budget-friendly wine that was made in Chili. It was delicious, and it only costs 4 euro! Yes mom and dad I can buy wine in the store...mwahahaha!!!

Maybe the Mulvaney/Parker families can have a wine tasting party early this summer before it gets too hot? Now the only problem is that I have to learn how to cook the food that goes WITH the wine...