by
Katie
Updated 2/28/05

The other day, I decided to treat myself to a manicure and pedicure at the day spa.
I am not sure if this is becoming a widely popular pastime of college socialites
but I was shocked by the number of young women also doing the same.
Not that young women NEVER visit the spa, but with a strict budget, most cannot afford such a luxury.

However on this cloudy and wet afternoon, the $40 seemed well spent for most.
As I was sitting in the main area waiting for my toes to dry,
and I realized a startling amount of champagne glasses being sipped. First off, I was offered no such treat,
and it was the middle of the afternoon. Has an early afternoon cocktail now become acceptable??

Lucky for me, my curiosity was nothing out of the ordinary as women, as we all know, LOVE to chat and gossip.
In this case, curiosity would not kill this cat.

I turned to my right and asked the attractive blonde where in the world I can get a drink like hers??
Quickly she motioned to her girlfriend who was walking back, to get another champagne for her new friend!
The pieces were starting to come together, sure $40 is expensive for a pedicure, but it includes unlimited champagne,
entertainment from all the girls, AND a safe dry place from the weather…
it seems like these girls had it all worked out. What a lovely time,
I thought to get a little market research about wines and champagne with my peers.

Now I’d like to take a moment to give you my analysis on champagne,
or what little opinions I DO reserve for the drink. Champagne to me was not a far hop away from white wine.
And to be quite honest, up until a year or so ago, I was not a very big fan of whites.
If you were going to enjoy a glass of white wine, then why did it leave
you with such a bitter face at the end of a sip?

One of the things I truly cherish about red wines is that every sip is as enjoyable
as the next from start to finish, if not more (but we will get into THAT conversation another time.)
Wine wines to me, were a lessened version of champagne, and if I was going to drink one,
it was going to be the bubbly! Now I am sure many of you are cringing in your seats as you read this,
but let me tell you, I am just being honest.
At my age, I have to start forming my own tastes,
and if you can remember the first time you had white wine, and champagne,
though there IS a difference, it wasn’t much.

So I asked the all the girls in the room (There were about 6 of them;
all young, and attractive by most standards,

and most importantly, ALL of them were sipping champagne) if they also enjoyed
white wines and if they had to make a choice between the two, which would they prefer??

Surprisingly most of them answered they DO drink whites, but if they had a choice,
they’d prefer champagne. “Why?” I asked.
To which I received a few chuckles and then after a short deliberation,
the hot blonde to my right, now checking her red nail polish freshly applied to her fingers replied,
“well whites wines are nice to drink for dinners if that is what people are ordering,
but to be honest, I don’t LOVE them. I drink them because so do others.
I certainly don’t want to be the only person at a dinner table with a cocktail,
ya know!” I smiled, well at least honestly wasn’t a problem with this group.
Blondie continued, “And in terms of having a choice between white wine and champagne,
well….champagne is just so much more glamorous! Even the glasses are sexier!”
All the girls in the room giggled and nodded seemingly in approval.

“Yeah,” a girl sitting in a vibrating chair across from me chimed in as
she readjusted her robe which was falling open continued,
“I mean I don’t know if it’s just me, but white wine doesn’t always seem right.
Don’t get me wrong, I DO like wines, especially reds,
but white wines seem to be a combination of a robust flavoring like reds,
but then this tangy aftertaste like champagne.
If they would make the endings as smooth as the reds, I think I’d certainly enjoy them more.”

I sat back in my chair, what an interesting thought. It wasn’t a far cry from similar opinions that I had harvested, but it made me wonder,
if two strangers can have a similar idea on white wines, then perhaps many others did too!
And if I was in the business of making white wines,
I certainly would want to find a way to capture this growing market of young ladies drinking, BACK.
Was there a certain type of white wine that perhaps DID resemble a long lasting flavor as reds??
I new my research had just begun.
The girls then continued to talk about wines and boys and everything else under the sun,
and as I stood to make my way back to the dressing room, I wished them well and hoped I’d see them soon.
“Of course,” the blonde hottie on my right replied,
“we come every other week on Wednesdays! You should really start to join us,
we had a great time with you today!” “Thanks,” I replied,
“I think I will! See you soon.” A smile came over my face,
these girls don’t know what they just got themselves into.

TO BE CONTINUED…