Learn to Love Wine Without Being a Snob

Enjoying wine is not something you should be ashamed of. Moreover, it is not a one-way ticket to the often expensive and exorbitant world of wine, wine jargon and big labels. It’s actually easy to enjoy the differences between Pinot Noir and Cabernet without emptying your bank account or learning a new language.

Wine often gets a bad reputation. Sometimes it’s deserved: dull and deliberately fussy language makes wine difficult to understand, major reviewers and expensive wines make normal people think it’s too expensive and hectic, and a whole market for cheap goods sells you the idea that “wine is tricky, just drink it.”

In other cases, this is not fair: the old image of ” wine is nonsense ” paints the entire drink with a wide, clearly mistaken brush and encourages people to simply give up what they like instead of finding out about it.

So, if you enjoy having a glass here and there, or even buying a few bottles for holiday dinners or special occasions, how will you learn to appreciate things like how the wine was made, what it is made of, how it tastes and how one wine ? different from the other? How can you avoid entrenching yourself in this deliberately dull and opaque market?

Try a lot and pay attention to what you like

If you are already interested in wine, this should be easy. All you really need is some more wine! Drink different wines from different parts of the world. Start with different varieties or those different “types” of wines that you see in a liquor store. Try Pinot Noir followed by Cabernet Sauvignon . Try Chardonnay and then try Pinot Gris . There is a big difference in taste between varieties of wine, even of the same “color”. When you drink, you start associating certain flavors with certain types of wine. This is your first step towards figuring out what you like and what you don’t, and this is the first step from “I don’t like / drink only red / white wine” which is very important. Too many people write off all red or white because they don’t like a particular type, and that’s all they’ve ever had.

As soon as you try something, write it down for yourself. Of course, you can use a pen and paper or an app (I especially love Vivino , the Android and iOS app we talked about earlier ) to “jot down” the wines you drink and what you think of them. At the very least, it helps you keep track of what you like and dislike and why. At its best, it will keep you from drinking again what you didn’t like, just because you forgot what you tried.

Take your time, buy a ton of wine and start taking notes. It’s a slow, gradual process. The goal here is to have fun and learn about your tastes. Don’t make it a chore! Use this as an opportunity to broaden your horizons. Once you have established what you like, such as Riesling , you can try Rieslings from different parts of the world to see how they differ and which ones you like.

Find serious reviewers who maintain your level

All of this research can be quite challenging, especially because it takes money to do it. If you don’t like the bottle, you will spend money on it. Your next step is to get some help from someone who has gone through the same steps as you, or at least someone who is relatively serious when it comes to wine review.

It’s complicated. To do this, you need to both openly talk about the wines you drink and enjoy them now (and do it without shame, so if you only drink Barefoot and Yellow Tail, you should be able to say that!), And you need to find voices … in the wine world that are not going to shroud you in all the nonsense that we mentioned earlier. Here are some suggestions:

• VinePair : Vinepair’s mission is simple: demystify the wine world and try to wake up your excitement by breaking down all those dumb walls around the wine world. Their Wine 101 manual is detailed and well-read, but it’s all written in a light-hearted “we are like you” tone that defines complex terms and wine-making jargon without making you memorize them. You’ve probably already seen some of the VinePair graphics and guides linked here before, from the differences between Champagne, Prosecco, and Cava to why Wine Point reviews can’t be trusted – one of the ways wine marketing is actually nonsense.
• Wine Library TV : Gary Vaynerchuk is no longer involved in Wine Library TV (in fact, it ended a few years ago), but his serious, serious approach to tasting and discussing wines led me to wine and taught me how to do it, even if I was the only one who tried or smelled what I smelled, that was enough. He explains the details of the wine in plain language, and while some of the reviews may be dated, his general advice on how to drink, enjoy, and buy wine is legal. Gary was one of the first to tell me that the price of a bottle means nothing compared to its taste, and then backed it up with recommendations that I really like. Seriously, even if you’re not watching the show, follow it on Twitter .
• Your local wine seller or liquor store with knowledgeable staff . It can be tricky to find depending on where you live, but if you can find a liquor store in your area – or even a grocery store that sells wine – where the people in charge of the wine actually seem to know and care about what they sell, you are sitting in a gold mine of useful information. After all, wherever there is wine, someone has to order it, and if you have access to that person, they probably have some thoughts about the bottles that end up on the shelf. Sometimes that means you need to frequent the smaller stores in your neighborhood, but I’ve had just as much luck with the folks at Costco or Harris Teeter. Talk to them about what you like and see what they offer based on their inventory. This might be a mistake, but like the guilt itself, you will quickly find out if you can trust that person’s opinion.

The point of all this is to get a little guidance before spending money. This can make a big difference, especially from a knowledgeable person. Like any skill, you can develop on your own through self-study, but finding someone who has already walked the path you are walking is invaluable.

Go to wine festivals and tour local wineries

No matter where you live, there is probably a winery near you and they probably offer tours, tastings, and behind-the-scenes views of what they do. Many communities, especially during the warmer months, host wine festivals where local wineries display their best and most popular bottles. Sometimes they are free. In other cases, there is a cover, or you will want to book in advance. Either way, this is a great way to explore several different wines at once and talk to the people who actually make them. It’s an incredible experience, and if you’re interested in wine at all, it’s a great way to learn a lot, taste a lot, and have a good time.

There are several wine festivals that I attend almost every year, and even if I don’t like some of the wines I taste, the tastings are free as soon as you get paid for your ticket to the festival, which is great. None of these activities are out of the ordinary – most likely all you have to do is notify the winery that you are coming, or choose an open house weekend. Look at the locator wineries of states or that of WineWeb, to find the nearest to you.

Of course, most wineries are more than happy to sell you a bottle (or box) of their wares at a festival or open house, so be prepared. However, even if you only do it for a short time, it is fun and you will learn a lot in just one day. You never know, you might have new favorites.

Join services that foster a love of wine, not just your money

Depending on where you live, wine delivery can be challenging . If you can get wine delivered, consider signing up with wine retailers who are focused on making you like the bottles they mail to you. Here are some services to try:

• Club W starts you off by asking a few questions about what you like – not just wine, but in general. You will create a “flavor profile” that will help them tailor future wines to you. This is a tiered subscription service, but you can pause monthly shipping at any time, or pause shipping entirely if you like. They offer wines and you can either sit back and let them show up every month or go there and watch their review videos (they have a great YouTube channel ) and pick your wines yourself if you like.
• Invino is more of a traditional online wine shop, but their wines range from super affordable to ridiculous. The key difference here is that they contain all the details you might want to know about the wine. Where is it from, what is the taste, what is with the wine and much more. They also offer some pretty big discounts off retail prices, which is nice to see.
• Glassful is another subscription service that matches wines to your liking. Complete the quiz so the service team can pick the good wines for you, then just sit back and let them show up every month like at Club W.
• Cinderella Wine by Wine Library is sort of a site with daily suggestions. They offer one wine a day and that’s all until it’s sold out. You see the bottle, read the review, and are guaranteed the best price on the web (based on team research, at least). Then, at midnight, the bottle is gone and replaced with new wine. Cinderella Wine is an offshoot of the Wine Library that offers pretty big discounts on its own, not to mention the tons of in-depth reviews, descriptions, and of course the video reviews we mentioned earlier .

These are just a few, and they are by no means the only options. Wine Woot is another choice if you’re looking for more buy-cheap-until-you-run deals, but if you’d rather learn on the go, try some of the above. And remember, you can enjoy wine on a tight budget . Don’t feel like you need to rob the bank – most of these services offer variable subscription prices or good, cheap bottles (less than $ 10, for example) that you will love.

Keep your tasting notes to yourself and drink within your budget

Speaking of budget, the best way to avoid the arrogance inherent in the world of wine is to not participate. Keep your tasting notes to yourself. Bringing a bottle or two of your favorite wine to a friend’s party is a great idea. Telling them detailed tasting notes is not.

Like any passion, you should be able to enjoy wine for yourself. Everyone has different tastes, so what you love may be hated by someone else. What you feel may not be caught by someone else. Unless everyone enthusiastically discusses the intricacies of the wine you drink, avoid encouraging enlightenment unless people want you to. Save it for the right audience, tell your friends that this is one of your favorites, and leave it as it is.

Likewise, don’t let anyone else set your wine budget. There is no dollar amount at which a wine goes from “bad” to “good” or vice versa. I had $ 5 bottles of wine that impressed me more than $ 25 bottles, and my wine cooler is crammed with bottles of all price ranges. It is foolish to judge wine by its price. If you start trying what you think you might like and learn a little about the varieties and their general tastes, you will be able to choose based on that rather than the estimated dollar value.

Trust yourself to tell the difference between swill and what is delicious. After all, that’s the whole point of it all – bypass this nonsense and find out what you like and what you really like. Wine is no different.

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