Wine on a Monday night

I think one of the best things about going to Yale SOM is the opportunity to take classes at the other schools. For the first semester, we take mandatory core classes such as accounting, economics and management, but I am really excited at being able to choose electives from the next semester onwards. Apart from classes at school, there are a variety of clubs that cater to more niche interests. For instance, I am currently taking an eight-session-long wine tasting class offered by the Food & Wine Society at SOM and taught by Philippe Newlin, the programming director of Devour.tv. Last night was the first lesson, during which we learned more about Bordeaux and tasted six different wines from Margaux, Pauillac, St Julien, St Estèphe and a variety of vintages. I will be the first to admit that (unlike many others in class), I am many steps away from being a wine connoisseur. However, Philippe made the class easy to follow and gave many interesting insights such as what terroir is and explaining the difference between the Cabernet-based wines of the Left Bank and the Merlot-based wines of the Right Bank. At the end of the class, the remaining half-full bottles were given to the student who had the closest guess of the original price of the bottle. Then the pouring continued, which made sure that we all had a slightly tipsy but thoroughly enjoyable Monday night.