This is the second installment of Leggy and Luscious, wherein Jill Billante, a Senior Producer at AC360°, studies at the American Sommelier Association. She's quite tall and she enjoys great wine.

When you hear people talk about "oaky" wine, what comes to mind? Are you thinking to yourself, "obviously Chardonnay," or is that just me? More specifically, I think of a California Chardonnay. Do you love an "oaky" wine or do you hate it? Do you judge people who ask for an oaky Chardonnay?

I've noticed an oak backlash as of late. Those who still wholeheartedly admit they love an oaky, buttery Chardonnay may find they're the recipient of snooty stares and full-on judgment, possibly along the lines of "that's so 1999."
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This is the first installment of Leggy and Luscious, wherein Jill Billante, a Senior Producer at AC360°, studies at the American Sommelier Association. She's quite tall and she enjoys great wine.

I love to drink wine and I love it enough to know that I have a lot more to learn. There is an ocean of knowledge and producers beyond the mass-produced wines with clever names and flashy labels, cramming the shelves of my wine shop. I want to know how to describe the kind I like to drink, ask for it at a wine store, or a restaurant - and stay within a certain price range.

With that in mind, I signed up for the very basic foundation course at the American Sommelier Association. This seemed like the right place for me to start, since I realized a few weeks ago that I've been mispronouncing the word oenophile when describing myself. The proper pronunciation for the Greek term describing a lover of wine is EE-no-file. Kind of a phony don't you think? It's time to get legitimate.
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