Featured story

Other than communion on Sundays, my first experience drinking wine was swigging down Sutter Home white (pink, really) zinfandel and Bartles & James wine coolers during college. I guess I had a thing for alcoholic sugar water. Hey, why not eat candy and get a buzz all from the same sip? It's quite efficient when you think about it. When I embarked upon my junior year abroad in France, I discovered "real" wine. Voila! I was hooked, especially when we giddy Americans realized we could get a rather decent bottle for a mere couple of dollars. (The exchange rate was pretty good then, unlike now!) We spent our first six weeks in the Loire Valley surrounded by magnificent chateaux, the ones you see featured in calendars at Barnes & Noble. With such grandeur to experience, the red wine practically flowed on its own. I also discovered the glory of cheese. Prior to this epiphany, I didn't think I liked cheese because my only exposure was Kraft American Singles moldy from being in the "crisper" way too long. Let's just say my weight began to adjust for my two new favorite food groups - wine and cheese. I started to wear longer sweaters because it was getting difficult to zip my pants all the way up.... When I got back to school for senior year, there was no more Sutter Home for me. And I made sure to have a wheel of Camembert handy in the crisper.

Libby Carty McNamee