atelier d'œnologie (wine tasting)

tonight, i was lucky enough to take advantage of yet another one of educo's amazing activities, a wine tasting.  we all met in the sommelier's atelier for a sampling of wines and cheese.  after learning a little wine geography (geography never sounded so fun), we started tasting wines.  our first wine was a white mâcon from bourgogne.  a nice dry white, it paired wonderfully with the cheese (in my opinion, though, all wine and cheese are good together).  i would like to try it with some fish, maybe salmon?  we learned how to probably taste wine from smelling it, to letting it breathe, to tasting it properly so as to get all the flavors.  next up was a michel lenique rosé champagne.  this would be an ideal aperitif (pre-dinner drink).  next we moved on to the red, started with a light, fruity chénas from near beaujoulais that tasted strongly of cassis (the liqueur that makes kirs, my favorite french cocktail.  i feel like it would go great with anything really.  our second red was a minervois from languedoc (the south) that was was very strong with a note of licorice.  it would go great with a steak, lamb, or duck.  the last wine was a very sweet and fruity white muscat, great for dessert.  the entire experience was very informative and enjoyable, and i definitely want to to try a greater variety of wines before i leave france.