What is this "wine" you speak of?

<Begin wine-related experiences>

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For my 21st birthday, my sister and brother-in-law took me to a winery and we did a tasting.

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Sometimes, my boyfriend buys a bottle of wine to go with dinner and I have a sip from his glass.

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</End wine-related experiences>


To elaborate on the obvious, I have little to no experience with wine.  I'll occasionally drink a hard cider with a meal, but it is rare that I actually finish it.  The sweeter the drink, the more I enjoy it (i.e. the less I dislike it).  From what people have told me, the faces I make when I take a sip of wine indicate that I like white wine more than red wine, and I strongly dislike red wine.  I believe that my dislike has something to do with the dryness of red wine, but that may be because "dry" is such a new taste and sensation to me, so my feelings may change over time given more exposure.

I assume that much like any other topic, the more I learn about wine, the more I will learn to appreciate different wines, even if I don't actually like them.

My main motivation for enrolling in this course is due to the fact that I need to learn something - anything - about wine, so that I can be a classy young business woman upon graduating this spring.  For example, I want to be able to contribute to a discussion among my colleagues about what bottle of wine should be purchased with dinner on the company dime.

By the end of the semester, I want to speak "wine" fluently.