Column: Vying for vino

You know what’s not fun? Being underage.

Not that I want to go and get wasted every weekend. I really don’t. The idea of the typical college party actually kind of annoys me.

My problem with being underage is that I want to be a wine connoisseur.
I want to school myself in the world of wines so badly. This is partly due to my major and future career.

I feel that it is pretty much a necessity for me to learn these things before going into a food career that I have created without going to culinary school.

Don’t you think it makes sense for me to do this? I think so.

The problem is not just my age, but my actual birthdate. Many of my friends have been 21 for months. My 21st birthday is not until the week after finals.

It’s a major bummer because although I am not the partying type, it would be nice to celebrate my birthday with my friends in town. But I am excited about going home to Chicago for my birthday.

Regardless of all of this, it gives me merely a year to figure out what all of that wine stuff is about and what it means and its importance and so on.

I don’t suppose there’s really a point to me saying all this. I’ve already written about how people need to be more respectful toward alcoholic beverages, as we, the college students, only seem to be known for abusing them.

It doesn’t really matter to me one way or the other about being able to legally drink, which I think is how most people should feel about it anyway.

But sometimes, when I’ve had a long week or when I’m trying to get people together or just when I’m trying to keep things simple, it would be nice to just throw a wine and
cheese party.

It’s easy, it’s definitely affordable, and I’ve seen it trending more across the college
atmosphere.

But I’m pretty positive that given our alcoholic experiences, none of us know what we should about wines, other than there being white and red.

Don’t you think it’d be cool to just have knowledge of the world of wines?

I think it would be rather handy. Impress people easily with your excellent taste in wine as well as your knowledge and courage to pair certain vintages with meals. Be able to talk about the crops each year and actually understand what the Judgment of Paris blind wine tasting was about.

Food and drink go hand in hand and are therefore important. It’s a part of life and has played a big part of many lives in history.

I mean, wine is considered the blood of Christ. And if that’s not important, I don’t know
what is.

Maybe I’m rambling pointlessly, but it’s something that I’ve felt strongly about since watching the film “Bottle Shock.”

Give it a look and maybe you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

I don’t even know how one goes about becoming a connoisseur. Is there a school? Do I need to have a certain level of snobbery?

Nonetheless, I will continue to wish for infinite knowledge of wines while awaiting my official adulthood in May. Until then, I will comfort myself with the minimal knowledge of food items that I have.