I’m not sure if I can properly put this experience into words, but I’m sure going to try.

I was given an amazing opportunity by fellow wine enthusiast and blogger, Adam Japko (Author of WineZag) to attend a small blind tasting held at his house this past Saturday evening. I’d be totally lying to you if I never mentioned how nervous I was. It took me a week or two after receiving the invitation to accept and luckily, there was still an open spot. I was able to meet Adam the week prior to his tasting and that made me feel a whole lot better, but I was still insanely nervous. I had never been to a blind tasting and had really no idea what it would be like. After a pep talk from my boyfriend, I committed to the tasting and was ready for what lay ahead.

I arrived at the tasting to find a very welcoming crowd where I was by far the youngest participant. If there’s one thing that’s always amazing to me—it’s the ability of people with a passion for wine to embrace younger enthusiasts who are just learning. I was kind of taken aback by how warm the crowd was and how awesome our conversations were.

After some mingling, we were ready to sit down for the blind tasting. The theme of the night was the Mencia grape. It’s a grape from Iberia where it’s known as both Mencia (Spain) and Jaen (Portugal). I don’t think it’s grown in any other place in the world. The wines we tried were produced way up in the north-west corner of Spain and from how it tastes, it does really well up there.

After tasting 12 wines made from this grape, I gotta say I’m intrigued to try more. It was consistently solid (although a couple weren’t my favorite). There was often a dusty scent to it, but it was always balanced out by some fruit and tannin while drinking. In my tasting notes, I often described the wines as silky or smooth. With the average price being between $12 and $28, I think these wines are seriously delicious for the price.

The night had many great wines, conversations, and people that I was absolutely blown away. I love these types of opportunities. If you know of any other Boston area awesome events, feel free to let me know. I’d love to be involved given that the price tag isn’t sky-high.