A surprise ending to my Thirsty Girl Virtual Wine Tasting

There are a few things in life that I've often felt left out of. When I was a kid it was not liking cheese or black olives. Other kids I knew loved them and had so much fun eating them, especially string cheese and sticking olives on their fingers and popping them off into their mouths. I wanted to like them, but I just didn't. Now? I love kalamata olives and green olives, but I still detest black olives, and I LOVE cheese.

As an adult I've always felt a bit left out that so many people I know love wine but I didn't. I've tried quite a bit of alcohol over the past 20 years or so, many different wines, cognac, champagne and beer, and I've just never liked how they tasted. Well, I did like ice wine but it was almost too sweet.

My goal has been to find an alcohol that doesn't taste like alcohol, which to my taste buds comes across as very strong and chemically.

Visit ChocolateShopWine.com

So when I received an email invitation to participate in a virtual "Chocolate Red Wine" tasting I thought "Hmmmm chocolate and wine in a glass?" I did a bunch of research online and learned that the best way to enjoy chocolate wine is to eat something sweet with it. One site even said something more sweet than the wine. So with great anticipation I replied that I would participate and waited for the day of the wine tasting.

The way it worked was Thirsty Girl hosted the wine tasting from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM and The Chocolate Shop sponsored the wine. That means they sent it to my doorstep as a complimentary gift. We were supposed to sample the wine at that time and only if we wanted to we could tweet on Twitter with the hashtag #TGTaste while the tasting was taking place.

I thought taking the bottle over to a friend's art gallery would be a great way to experience it, plus Frost Cupcake Factory is right across the street and I figured their chocolate cupcakes would pair well with the wine. Sadly I didn't make it back to the South Bay from the city (where I taught a blogging seminar) until 6:30 PM so we kicked off our wine tasting then and went until 10:30 PM. LOL

Here's where things get a little awkward. I didn't like the wine. Which isn't to say it's bad wine. Remember, I don't like wine. But I was hoping... It was far less chocolatey than I'd imagined it would be and much more red wine'ish. So if you love red wine and you like chocolate you might love the Chocolate Shop Red Wine.

These people did!

Visit ThirstyGirl.com

But here's my surprise ending. If Thirsty Girl hadn't invited me to participate in their virtual wine tasting event, and if I hadn't also invited my friend Richard to join us, then I wouldn't have tried Moscato wine last night (for the first time) because it was Richard who brought a bottle of Italian Moscato by Luna Di Luna along with him. The thing is, Richard had once heard me talking about the things I didn't like about wine and how it tastes so he enlisted the help of a shop owner, relaying to her my comments, and she recommended two wines: The Luna Di Luna and a bottle of 2010 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I enjoyed both immensely!

At the Stone Griffin Art Gallery

And I can honestly say that with Moscato I've finally experienced what people love about wine. The alcohol content is a little lower than average, the flavor was crisp and bright, not overly sweet at all and I could easily imagine how it would complement certain foods. I drank half a glass over approximately four hours. I also slept better than I have in forever when I got home but I'm not sure if that was from the alcohol or the casual evening of just relaxing and chatting with friends. Richard sent the extras home with me so I'll be enjoying another half glass tonight.

If you know me, the next time we go out to dinner don't be surprised if I order a glass of Moscato. I already have two more labels to try recommended by helpful friends on Facebook last night :)

So a big thank you to Thirsty Girl, The Chocolate Shop, my friend Dana for letting us use the Stone Griffin for our tasting location and to Richard for introducing me to Luna Di Luna Moscato and Cloudy Bay's Sauvignon Blanc. It was a fun evening and it wouldn't have happened had Thirsty Girl not reached out to me!