Welcome to my first post!

 Hello and welcome!

My name is Grace and I am taking Geography of Wine (Spring 2022). As a Southeast Asian, wine and alcohol have not been king to my soul. Fevers, red skin, rashes, nausea, dizziness, and a rapid heartbeat are just some of the quirky and fun symptoms I feel after drinking a few sips of a beer. The build up of acetaldehyde causes my blood vessels to dilate and my face turn red, which leads to the "Asian glow." Some may say that I am allergic to wine, other may say that alcohol is toxic for my body. Nonetheless, I am not a quitter and am a huge fan of wines. Taking one or two antihistamines before drinking usually does the trick in minimizing my symptoms.

This is me! Though wine is not my first choice of alcoholic beverages, I love pairing a sweet red with dinner and making sangria for tailgates. Personally, I have found that some white wines will trigger my asian glow more than other wines. However, a sauvignon blanc has never done me wrong and has stuck as a tried + true. Because my parents do not drink, I have not explored many wines that are more than five dollars as I try to stay as fiscal as possible. Though my options have been limited to sutterhomes, barefoot, and franzia, I am excited to try as many new types of wines as possible. 

I hope to gain as much knowledge as possible from this class. I am excited to share my knowledge and be a bit snobby around my friends with wine facts. In the next couple of months, this blog will be filled with reviews of different wines as I explore Blacksburg wineries and the Krobar!