I don’t drink often. Anymore. When I was an active flight attendant I drank often (although obviously not while on the job). I don’t know what it was exactly. Perhaps it was the simplest mutual activity a bunch of strangers could get together and have fun doing on a consistent basis. Whatever it was I drank more in my three years of flying than at any other point in my life combined. Not that that’s saying much considering I started flying just a few months after I turned 21.
I grew up very conservatively. Because of certain people in my life I chose not to drink when I was a teenager. A lot of it had to do with liking to feel in control of my life at all times. The idea of being out of control because of alcohol wasn’t appealing to me and so even when I lived in Europe where it was legal I chose to stick to Diet Coke while my friends got wasted. I never had any trouble letting loose and having a wonderful time. I didn’t need the alcohol and I was told more than once I was the most fun non-drunk they knew.
On my 21st birthday I had my first drink ever. It was a glass of champagne with a strawberry at the bottom of the glass.
And a love was born.
It took awhile for me to develop a taste for most alcohol. It seemed like forever before I could take a sip of almost anything without wrinkling my nose. Even longer before I could actually drink anything and truly appreciate the flavor.
Champagne however? No problem. I loved it instantly.
That’s why I was really excited to go to a champagne and sparkling wine tasting tonight. A big part of the appeal was the fact that they would be sampling the champagnes mentioned in the title. I figured, as much as I enjoy the eight or ten dollar bottles of sparkling white wine that I usually drink, how much better must a glass of Cristal be? Or Dom Perignon? At $200++ a bottle they must be amazing right? You’d think but I was never willing to risk hundreds of dollars to find out.
What if I thought is was awful? I mean, I’ve tried beer that people who know about beer say is delicious and could barely choke it down. I was not about to spend hundreds of dollars on something just to see if I liked it.
So, when I saw a local store was having a tasting that was offering those amazing champagnes along with dozens of others I was super happy that I didn’t have to work early the next morning.
I had so much fun. This was aided of course by the alcohol. Champagne goes straight to my head. Like, literally the first sip I felt the bubbles travel upwards. So good.
Oh and if you’re wondering if I like those expensive champagnes mentioned above? Lets just say that if I had an extra $200- $500 lying around I would know what to do with it. I mean, I would probably put it towards my next trip but now there would be a whole new temptation.