Hello! My name is Christina (I go by Christy). While I have only recently turned 21, I like to think that I have a pretty decent experience with wine for someone my age. I have been very fortunate to have done a great deal of traveling so far and, due to the younger drinking ages in other countries, I have been able to learn about and experience wine abroad.
I come from a family of wine drinkers. I have even helped my paternal grandfather to make his own wine (which I have to admit I would not recommend). My family has always been encouraging of trying new foods (and wines). My first major experience with wine was when I went wine tasting (for the first time) with my family in South Africa. We visited about three or four popular vineyards in the Franschhoek wine region. At the time I was a little younger and less adventurous in my wine tasting but I still tried a few.
Spring of sophomore year I studied abroad in Australia and while I was there I stayed in the Hunter Valley wine region. It was while I was touring the Hunter Region I really started enjoying wines especially Shiraz which is one of the varieties the region is well known for. While studying abroad I was also able to visit New Zealand with my sisters. While we didn't have time for much wine tasting we were able to visit a few vineyards after crossing over into the South Island.
All in all while I have been extremely lucky to travel and taste wines from a variety of regions I haven't had much experience in the United States. I really want to learn more about wine tasting and wine and food pairings. Hopefully I'll be able to continue traveling and I would love to learn more about the wines and regions that I might visit. Ideally I would just like to sound more knowledgeable about wine so that when I travel or go wine tasting I can sound like I know what I'm talking about.
