Do you remember your first wine?

Of course there are Bartles and James wine coolers and Boones Farm but come on, I'm not talking high school or college. I'm talking REAL wine.

I remember trying a blush with a blue crab on the label (forget the vineyard) at the Fish Market Restaurant in Old Town Alexandria in 2008 or 2009.  But the first wine I really enjoyed and continued to drink was Kanu - a Chenin Blanc from South Africa. My favorite happy hour bar in the Overwood Restaurant is where I first tried it and if I wasn't drinking my fall back - Bacardi and Coke, then I'd have a glass or two of Kanu (pictured with the incredible shrimp salad).

 

My first red wine that I enjoyed, and still will have a glass of every so often, is A to Z - Pinot Noir - from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, of course!

I remember very fondly these two wines, but more importantly, I remember the friends and circumstances surrounding the partaking of such nice wines. Was the wine really that good or did those friends who were with me make it that good? Exactly......