I have never been a big drinker of alcohol and if I am being honest until last year I had only tried wine on a couple of occasions.

Both times were at Christmas nights out with my old work. The first time carafes of white wine appeared on the table and we all filled a glass to make a toast. As it was the first time I had ever drunk wine I was looking forward to it.  I swallowed a mouthful of the stuff and then put on a face like a cartoon character who has just got their tail trapped in a door or who realises that the tree they are clinging to is slowly toppling over. I honestly thought that I had been given vinegar instead of wine and was amazed to see my colleagues happily drinking the stuff.

Do I Like All Types of Soup?

The same thing happened the next year only this time I wisely took a tiny sip before moving onto something more suitable. The problem is that I then assumed that I didn’t like wine. This is a bit silly of course. I don’t like oxtail soup but that doesn’t mean that I would say no to a steaming bowl of tomato soup or chicken soup. I had simply been given a wine which wasn’t to my taste.

My brother lives abroad in a wine growing region and when I went to visit him last year the last thing on my mind was a trip to the vineries. However, it seems that the local bodegas are the touristic high point of the region so he made sure that we went out there one day with some friends.

They were happily knocking back gallons of the stuff while I sat looking out of the window rather sheepishly. It seemed odd to be surrounded by barrels of wine and not want to try any of it. Eventually one of the locals persuaded me to try a red wine with a weird name. I was desperately worried about throwing up or putting on an anguished face but I was delighted to find that it was actually a very pleasant little drink.

Heartened by this unexpected outcome I tried a few other reds and discovered that they were to my taste as well. Now I had about 4 different types of wine that I liked and only those 2 horrible white wines from back home which I never wanted to come across again.

Time for a Healthy Meal

The next day we went to another local bodega and for the rest of the trip I came across wine after wine which I enjoyed drinking. When I got back home my friends couldn’t believe that I started drinking wine instead of my usual tipples and I even began to put a bottle on the table with my dinner. I had heard before that drinking a glass of red wine with your meal was a healthy thing to do but so is eating raw carrots and avoiding chocolate, and you won’t find me doing either of those things anytime soon. Now I can instantly make my diner healthier with a glass of the red stuff, though.

I have also discovered that buying wine can be an addictive hobby.  There are so many varieties to look for and so many wine producing countries in the world. A friend told me to try some Chilean produce while another person said that the South African reds are really good. It looks like I’ll need some time to try them all out. I just hope that I don’t come across those same white wines from the Christmas party again.

Once you start to enjoy wine you will need somewhere to put all the bottles and A & W Moore wine racks fit the bill nicely.