Climbing the Liquor Ladder: Going from Beer to Wine

Almost everyone remembers their first drink of alcohol.opportunity for tasting. Wine, however, is meant to be
I remember mine like it was yesterday. Taking a sip oftasted; it's meant to be savored. Each sip of wine
my father's Bud Light when I was seven years old, Ishould provide a new experience for your taste buds,
realized it tasted nothing like the root beer I frequentlymaking your beer bottles boil with increasing jealousy in
drank, mixing it with vanilla ice cream in large plasticthe process.
cups. As I concentrated on not spitting the beer back in
the can, knowing very well this would send myEnjoy the Variety
germ-a-phobic father rocking in the corner, I swallowed
the beer with my nose plugged and vowed to neverWhile there are several different types of beer, most
drink again.beer tastes relatively the same with some just not
being quite as bad as others. Two different bottles of
This vow was broken in my late teenage years whenwine, however, can taste dramatically unalike. Wine
beer bongs and keg stands were calling me, chantingdrinkers are granted with the ability to pick from a
my name in unison and performing the "slow clap"variety of years, types, and flavors. They can choose
portrayed in inspirational moments in movies. But, thered wine or white wine, wine from places as far as
truth is, I didn't really like beer then and I don't really like itFrance or as close as Oregon. And, once engaged in
now. From the cheap stuff filling the kegs of frata little wine tasting, wine drinkers can find a wine they
houses all over the world, to the more expensivereally love.
wheat beers served with an orange, they've always
tasted the same to me. They've always tasted bad.Embrace the History and the Culture
That is why, after college, where beer was just shortWine, in addition to being full of taste, is packed with
of flowing from dorm room faucets, I decided to climbculture and history. From the exportation of wine in the
the corporate ladder of liquor consumption, with the1st Century AD to the forbidding of the planting of
next rung up being wine.vineyards by the King of Spain, learning about wine
allows you to learn about the history of our world.
Initially I made this choice because of the healthDrinking different wines from different regions also
benefits of wine. Unlike beer, with each pint providingallows you to learn about the values of those particular
more belly fat in alcohol's version of 8-minute abs, wineregions.
possesses several things beneficial to a person's
health, with particular concern to the heart. But, healthBehave Yourself
benefits aside, I took this plunge because wine is so
much more than alcohol.When drinking wine, you need to act like you're
drinking wine. Now, I'm not saying you need to speak
However, taking the plunge from beer to wine wasn'twith an English accent or hold your wine glass with
easy. While beer is junior varsity, wine is varsity. Withyour pinky sticking out at a 90 degree angle, but wine
wine, you're playing with the big boys and there aredemands a certain sophistication that beer refutes:
several rules to keep in mind for a smooth transition.when drinking beer, the more barbaric the behavior the
better. With wine, however, your behavior should
Don't Play Drinking Gamescontain a certain sense of sophistication, behavior that
points to a bottle of Pinot Gris and says, "She's with
From Quarters to Century Club, beer was made forme."
drinking competitions, being the game piece passing Go
and collecting two hundred dollars. But, playing aWhen it comes down to it, beer and wine are on
drinking game with wine may result in praying to thedifferent sides of the alcohol spectrum. Beer, in
porcelain God later in the evening. While beer is madehindsight, is kind of like the sippy-cup that prepares you
to be swallowed in large amounts, with the occasionalfor the real thing. Wine, however, offers so much
belch being the only thing needed to make someonemore, and teaches you, above all, why alcohol really is
getting sick feel better, wine isn't. Wine, simply put, isa median of nearly every culture.Jennifer Jordan is the
not a toy.senior editor at With a vast knowledge of wine
etiquette, she writes articles on everything from how
Wine should be sipped, not chuggedto hold a glass of wine to how to hold your hair back
after too many glasses. Ultimately, she writes her
I have a theory that someone like me, someone whoarticles with the intention that readers will remember
hates beer, was the idea-person behind the conceptwine is fun and each glass of anything fun should
of chugging: the faster the chugging, the lessalways be savored.