I guess you could say I was always a “cool kid” in high school. I played varsity sports, had lots of friends and got good grades.
But it wasn’t until college that I realized the “cool kids” for the most part never ended up getting that far.

Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a mean person, I was friends with many groups of people,
and I was a well liked person on campus, but I tended to be a little judgmental.
For instance, since I was a bit of a jock I got along with all the guys and some girls just hated me for it.
I remember watching them at bars drinking their white and red wines thinking,
they were so lame for trying to be sophisticated drinking wine.
What college kids really drink wine and like it? As far as I was concerned they were just “acting” older to get guys’ attention.

I knew that my parent’s primarily drank wine and I have seen many sophisticated-looking people
doing the same so I figured surely when I get older it would just come to me.
Well my life changed one night thanks to a glass of red wine and a cute girl with a positive attitude.

As a young person in today’s society, I’d like to think I have a leg up on the competition.
When I was walking to the restroom that night, her arm was hit and the red wine came splashing out onto my face and shirt.
Though a little startled initially, it was the first step to my now fascination with wine.

Have you noticed more and more young adults are drinking wine these days?
I laughed at their novice attempts at maturity and automatically dismissed any enjoyment they actually might have from it.
But I have now come to realize that drinking wine is NOT just about age, and regardless of your parent’s teachings of
“wine is an acquired taste and you will enjoy it more when you get older” young people can still enjoy wines just as much.

I was surprised that night as I began to talk with my newly found friend about the wine
that was filling my senses with the most roboust smells I had ever experienced.
Even if it WAS just on my shirt. Perhaps it was in part to my intoxication that led to more and more questions
about where, why, and how, but we have become great friends and wine lovers alike.
She taught me about the tannins, the endings, how to try and smell the flavors.
She was knowledgeable beyond what I had given her credit for.

We shared a glass of wine enjoying each sip before sneaking off to the bathroom together.
You always wondered what us girls did in the bathrooms together right??
Well in our case, she loaned me her sweater (since my shirt was all wet from the wine!)
Perhaps it was the excitement of it all, but she was pretty darn cute, I almost felt weird watching her take that sweater off.
Even though she had a camisole underneath, that just brought my attention more to how attractive she was.

Nevertheless that night I was proved wrong about my assumptions about young wine drinkers
and I am now on a mission to convert as many other young adults to get out and enjoy a nice flavorful glass of wine.

2/10/05 I'll add more next week...

This is my profile at WineTalk.Com

Playing the Game

More Of The Web's Top Wine Sites:
Links to other top wine sites. These are sites that others visit regularly and find useful. Many are great sites, so feel free to look them over and see what you think!