Alt+Wine

My first sip was at 12 years old.

I’d been studying for this moment for MONTHS. The entire community watched me walk down a marble aisle lit by candles and hazy with incense - I was wearing a dress my mother had made for the occasion.

When I reached the end, a man in robes lowered a golden chalice to my eye level. The liquid was yellow-gold and reflected my face and the candle light off its surface. The taste was sharp and metallic - I didn’t like it - but the moment was an incredible experience filled with meaning I could sense but could not yet understand.*

*The preceding story is all true. Depending on how you look at it, technically I suppose I was drinking the blood of Christ, but I still think that my first communion counts. Regardless, there is little wonder why I work in wine and spend my free time consuming and writing about (mostly) alcoholic beverages.