My Experience With Wine So Far

    Hi, my name is Gina Lampe. I am an architecture major in my fourth out of five years. To be honest, most of the wine I've had has come from the bottom shelf at Target and cost $5 a bottle (either California Roots or Barefoot) but I have always wanted to branch out. I have never done a proper wine tasting, but I have tried a decent amount. I have never paired food with wine before and I know almost nothing about it. 

    This fall, I studied abroad through the architecture school's Europe travel program. We passed through many wine regions and I tried a bunch of different wines, but I wish I had known more before going into it. I really enjoyed everything I tried in Europe and all of the wine seemed to be higher quality than what I’ve tried in the United States, even the €2 boxed wine. 

    I like most white wines that I’ve tried but I definitely prefer sweeter, fruity wines. I also like sparkling wines like champagne, prosecco, and the sparkling rosé I got from Trader Joes once. My favorite wine is probably California Root’s pink moscato from Target. I have the least experience with red wine. I've tried some here and there but I am not sure I have the acquired taste for it quite yet, but I'm excited to try some more. I had a lot of great red sangria while I was in Spain and I want to make my own. 

    I want to learn about different types of grapes, what makes the varieties different, and how they affect taste. I also want to learn why wine regions matter and what actually makes wines different from one another.

I couldn't find a picture of me with a glass of wine, but an aperol spritz will do!