This is going to be long, but it’s my very first post, so that’s ok.

My informal wine education began when I was 22, immediately following college. Myles and I lived in Phoenix, Arizona and went to almost weekly wine tastings at a wine shop called Red Kangaroo Wines. As you might have guessed, they sold Australian wine. Thus, much of the red wine consumed at home was Australian (often from Trader Joe’s) and I nearly always had bottles of Chateau St. Michelle Riesling on hand, for drinking and cooking, which I got for $7-$8 a bottle at Costco.

Not long after our first son was born we moved to California, and I joined a wine club through the local mother’s club. While none of us were particularly serious or well-informed, I did learn how to properly taste wine and finally started tasting things from places other than Australia, especially California. I also became smitten with New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough, and some local reds (especially the zinfandel) from Woodside Vineyards.

In late 2008 I bought my first case of wine through the Stanford Wine Program (a split of 6 bottles of Napa Merlot, which was from Livingston-Moffet and 6 bottles of Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, which was from Thomas Fogarty). I also received futures I’d purchased in 2007 at Woodside Vineyards. This necessitated our first long-term wine storage solution, a used 12 bottle wine refrigerator. By this time I’d also taken a two night European Wine class through the local Parks and Rec department, where I was introduced to Port.

Finally, in April 2009 we made our first trek up to “wine country”, spending a day hitting wineries in Napa up and down Highway 29. We came home with more than a case of wine and two wine club memberships, to Merryvale and the Napa “gem” we happened to discover: Elizabeth Spencer. It suddenly became acceptable to spend upwards of $50 on a bottle of wine. Upon our return, I ordered a 28 bottle wine fridge to accommodate our growing collection.

In late summer 2009, my first wine club having lost my interest, I joined a new club coordinated by a wine educator friend that included several people far more experienced in wine tasting and collecting than myself. Our monthly meetings expose me to new wine regions (Italy, Spain, etc.) and new methods of tasting. Myles and I were still enjoying the wines we purchased in Napa and were receiving in our club shipments. We had stopped buying wine in stores.

Learning in November 2009 that I was pregnant with our second son, I continued to taste, but spit, wine, attend wine club, and learn about wine in general. In May 2010, nearly 8 months pregnant, we spent a lovely long weekend in both Sonoma and Napa for a wedding, visiting our favorite wineries and discovering some new ones. We again brought home massive amounts of wine (this time, two cases) and a new club membership to Prager Port Works. (Wine fridge #3 joined the family shortly thereafter, holding 16 bottles).

So this brings us to when I decided to get serious about my wine education. As soon as I got home from this May trip, I found myself thinking about wine on a constant basis. I even dreamed about it. Every night. First, I created an inventory spreadsheet of what we currently owned. We had about 60 bottles and all, read ALL, of it was from California. While I’m sure I could be perfectly happy to sip our fabulous local fruits for the remainder of my life, I couldn’t help but think that I had to be missing out on something by not drinking wines from elsewhere in the world. Being a bit of a nerdy book learner, and unable to dive right into drinking new wines, I began by ordering a slew of wine books from Amazon and started to read. (See my reading/resource list). Along the way I’ve been making a list of everything I want to try from around the world. I decided I needed to keep track of my learnings, thus this blog was born.

So, here’s what I know going in... I LOVE wine. Besides water, I hardly drink anything else. I like ALL wines. That’s right, I’m not privy to white or red, like many people are (or claim to be). Depending on my mood, the weather, the food, I enjoy reds, whites, roses, desserts wines, dry, off-dry, fortified, sparkling... I also know that my two areas of most concentration, Australia and California, have prevented me from trying as wide a breadth of varietals and styles as I’d like. As I continue to love wine, I want to know wine. And so, I will now taste the wines of the world.