Wine Tasting: It’ll Getcha Drunk!

Somewhere along the line of assigning traits to gender men picked up beer and women wine. Maybe it’s because beer comes from the Rockies and the heartland of America and manly Germany. Then wine comes from posh places like France and Italy and girly California. Regardless, somewhere along the way wine went from a drink of the noblest of men to one your sister’s friend with the “glucose” allergy gets at a bar. However, the time has come to restore wine to its rightful place.

Like beer, wine has countless varieties so you’re going to need to try a bunch and the best way to do this is to go wine tasting. Everyone is familiar with California and wines, but Long Island, NY is home to some 50 vineyards just an hour and a half (give or take) outside of Manhattan. Grab a car, grab some buds (friends, not the beer) and head on out to a vineyard. And if you’re opting for Long Island Wine Country I’d recommend Bedell Cellars.

The thing to remember is that you know nothing about wines and they expect you to know nothing, so there really is no such thing as a stupid question. (Sidenote: In life there are absolutely stupid questions depending on the amount of pre-perceived knowledge one is expected to have). If you’re shy about asking a question or talking to the people there about wine, drink more! You’re essentially at a bar after all. Bedell offers a premium flight of five different wines made up of whites and reds for $20, do something like this. You don’t have the palate yet to choose the flavors you want based on a description so let them choose for you and work on your tasting ability.

Now is the really fun part. Keep drinking. The more you taste the more versed you’ll become and as an added bonus, you’ll get drunk! Enjoy the wine, enjoy your friends and take to the grape vines for an epic boy band photo. Drinking is as much about the journey as the destination.