Hey everybody! My name is Charles Pudlo, I fly planes for the Air Force, I am an engineer majoring in Computer Science here at Virginia Tech, and most importantly... I love wine. That's my whole life story, so getting right into it, how did I get into wine? Well, being an engineer at VT is what really inspired me to drink more "thats a joke... sort of". Coming from Maryland, you don't see wine on grocery store shelves like you do here; you'd have to go out of your way to wine shop to pick something up if you really want to. Seeing such an unbelievably large selection at places like Kroger was a bit of a shock, but lets you see a decent selection compared to what an actual wine shop in Virginia would show you. It sparked an interest and a game my girlfriend and I play every week since I started here at VT. We would go to Kroger and pick up 2 to 3 to maybe 4 bottles that we had never tried and see who picked the best bottle. Usually we keep the price range to $15 and under since we have a blast finding diamonds in the rough, though with this method you'll more often just find coal. For us that's all part of the adventure, but it really does give you an appreciation for when you pick up a more expensive bottle.
So far, I have tried mostly $15 and under bottles of wine, but I am no stranger to bottles that fall into the $100 plus range; for special occasions of course. Of the many bottles I have tried, my fall back is a roughly $25 red bottle called Cooper and Thief, which is uniquely aged in a bourbon barrel. Its a bit heavier and definitely an after dinner wine, but you can find it on nearly any shelf, so go pick one up and let me know what you think! Though I mainly pick up my own wine, I also tend to get a glass when going out to dinner. I am no expert, but I do know it is a good idea to get a recommendation for whatever meal you are pairing it with. This is also something I make an effort at home to do, since my girlfriend and I do all our cooking ourselves. Now, we are not sommeliers, but we do know that red wines with red meats and white wines with white meats is a decent rule to live by. Given we try something new every week, we are not too into the weeds with things like, "if the nutty notes in the wine will pair well with the chicken cordon bleu" in the snobbiest voice possible. Sometimes we find the worst pairing imagineable, and sometimes we will find life long favorites like pairing Rock It Like A Redhead wine and a cheese plate. It is really the exploring that makes me excited about wine.
As for what I hope to learn in this class, my main goal is to learn how best to pair wines. I want to be able to look at a wine list and know what a sauvignon blanc should go well with. I want to experience an actual 4 plus course meal with selected paired wine, just so I can see what I am missing. I figure if I haven't already gone to a dinner like this, this class will give me some extra inspiration to do so and give me some more appreciation and insight for what to notice when I do. Hopefully I can find some new favorites along the way and share them with you all. I am also looking forward to learning some new tricks like how to decant and what the hell that even is. Most of all, I am excited to try new wines and understand what I am tasting. As it stands I am still a novice at understanding and noticing many of the complexities of wine and picking up notes you wouldn't otherwise, so hopefully I learn a thing or two to that end in my journey to become a Grandmaster Wine Snob.
-Charlie
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