How to learn about wine?
 

One of my co-workers recently asked me how to learn about wine and what to look for in tastings, etc. I gave him a few suggestions, but I'm interested in other thoughts. So, for someone who knows very little about wine, what would you say he should know?

One of my friends learned a lot about wine from a wine appreciation class at university years ago. I've picked up a lot about wine just from practice. I ask about wines when I'm at a restaurant where the server or bartender seems to know his/her stuff. I compare what I've been told with what I taste, and I file that information away as knowledge I chat with friends to compare experiences. I've also picked up a lot about wine and wine craft from visiting wineries -- admittedly easy for me as I live not far from Napa, Sonoma, and other wine regions.

Wine is a beverage to be enjoyed. Unfortunately, too many people get intimidated by the jargon and allure of the elitism too often found by those who appreciate wine. Tell your friend to ignore that nonsense and just enjoy a nice glass of wine regardless of what he or she knows or doesn’t know!

If he or she wants to get more familiar with the wine jargon, learn about the different grapes and wine regions, etc, then it’s easy to look online for summaries of the different wine regions, what grapes are grown and used to create the most common wines, and what flavors and tastes are associated with the various wines. Going wine tasting is another great way to learn as you try different wines. Dining at a restaurant with a sommelier and asking questions about what and why wines pair so well with the food is another good way to learn. Don’t be afraid to ask!

The biggest intimidation factor to my mind is when people use exotic descriptors to describe the wines they drink. The vocabulary can scare off people. Don’t get scared. Describe the wine using the words you know. Other people may taste the same thing but use different vocabulary than you—that’s OK! Don’t worry about it. If confused, you can ask.

My biggest lesson—don’t assume white wine is for fish and red wine is for meat. That’s not always right and is often wrong!

My second biggest lesson—-understand that the more expensive the wine, the more likely it will taste great and even better when it’s older...but not necessarily any better than a much cheaper wine when it’s younger! Spending a lot on a bottle of wine is most often pointless if it’s younger...so enjoy a cheaper wine if it’s younger!

My third lesson—-not everyone will like the taste and flavors of older wines. That’s just the way it goes. On the other hand, a lot of people who think they don’t like a certain type of wine (Cabernet) will discover they really will like an older one.

My final lesson—-don’t assume all wines from the same grape taste the same. There are many STYLES of winemaking that can make the same grape (i.e. Chardonnay) taste wildly different from another.

Experience will teach everyone even more.

I say all this as a major wine fanatic with a graduate certificate in winemaking from UC Davis—even though I’ve never been nor ever will be a winemaker! I just love wine. But I also love to see more people discover wine and enjoy wine and not be intimidated by wine.

Good luck!

I've done a few wine tasting/appreciation classes, and it's a great way to learn about - and taste - a variety of wines. I was stuck on Old World red wines but found out I love New World Sauvignon Blanc (particularly NZ ones)!

The place I go to has different classes, from professional ones to those covering regions (e.g. just Australian wines, just Burgundy ones (yes I still call it that)), to food matching ones and one that concentrates just identifying on the scents. Haven't done the professional ones, but have done a couple of certification ones. It's all fun and casual. And no one minds if you spit or swallow. ;)

Have your friend do an internet search for classes where you are. But there are also websites from the wine marketing boards of various countries; they give good backgrounders to the wines/regions of their country.

Examples:
Wine Australia: https://www.wineaustralia.com/au/dis...ustralian-wine (booklet to download)
Barossa Valley: http://www.barossa.com/wine

There are a lot of wineries near us in PA, but I suggested that he may not want to start with those, as having been to a few, they are all very similar and are usually staffed with people who know very little about wine.

+1 on what [MENTION=680784]bhrubin[/MENTION] said.

I'd also add that it's helpful to get one of those sheets with lists of flavors and flavor categories. Pay attention to the flavors you taste when sipping a glass and look at the sheet to put words to flavors you may have trouble describing. Do it often and you'll see you get better at it.

http://www.piwine.com/media/home-win...asting-Aid.pdf

I've thought about learning about wine other than thru consumption as well.

Thinking that signing up for an entry level sommelier course is the way to go. If you're going to spend time, you might as well spend money to get expert instruction and insight, rather than fumbling around what can be a complex subject I'd imagine.

Depends on what your needs are and how far you'd want to take it I guess.

I think an "entry level sommelier" is a contradiction in terms and will probably be very advanced for someone who is just learning the basics. I'd suggest more like a community college wine appreciation course or just a local wine appreciation club.

One great way to learn a lot about wine and the entire industry is to read the book "Cork Dork". Its very entertaining and you'll learn about wine along the way. It follows a writer as she attempts to become an "entry level sommelier" :)

Another method that can work well is to find a wine shop near you that does regular tastings with higher-end wines (>$30). In that manner you will taste good wines and learn from the staff as well as the fellow tasters. There is nothing a wino loves better than to talk about wine and help others learn.

One fascinating thing that irks me no end - there are a lot of corked wines being poured at tasting rooms and wineries. Never assume they know what they are doing, or trust their sense of smell.

If it is someone you are willing to socialize with, host your own home tasting. What I've done in the past was buy six bottles of wine (three white, and three red). Run the gamut of semi-sweet to intense dry. Part of the fun was to pick wines that are in the $7-13 each range, to show the guest that serious money doesn't have to be spent to enjoy a decent wine.

There are shows about wine and wineries on Netflix that I have watched while drinking wine. With that said, my best advice (because it's what I did) is to buy different wines in a local shop with or without the aid of shop attendants until one learns what they do or do not like. So buying the more affordable bottles is suggested with this method. In my short wine drinking time I've purchased bottles over $50 and at all points below that, but a good wine is what the consumer likes, higher cost does not mean a person will like it any better.

Tastes develop and change over time so one year I may appreciate Merlot and the next I'd rather have very cold white wines around, or, it could happen in the same day. . . The cool thing about wine is that there is so much and in so many varieties that it doesn't get old, there is always a new adventure in a newly discovered wine.

Just go drink some!

Hawaiian "cooking show" from the old days showing how to cook with wine, enjoy!

So much good advice in this thread!

I was initially intimidated by the idea of drinking wine. Not only did I grow up in a household that did not consume alcohol, I live in a part of the country which still often looks askance at those who imbibe as being some kind of drunken sinners.

Having said that, I have managed to learn a lot about wine. We've done a lot of tours at wineries, large and small. While this is a lot of fun, it is (for me) only one part of learning about wine. Tours are great for telling you about the type(s) of grape(s) that are grown there and whether or not this winery produces all of their own grapes or buys from other sources to supplement their production. Tours also show you all kinds of behind the scenes things like big barrels or large metal vats and how they're used in the process. This is all good info for learning about how these things can affect the composition and taste of the wine. This can also be overwhelming at first, but it's good stuff to know eventually when you're thinking about which wine to buy next based on what you've tasted and liked so far.

As stated above, not all wines made from the same types of grapes taste the same. Different years can have vastly different tastes. Disliking some types of wine does not mean that a person has a defective wine tasting gene. Spending more money on wine does not improve its flavor. Most of the wines we buy for home use are between $9-20. Drink what tastes good to you. Your wine tastes may change over time. (Mine have.)

Oh, and when sampling wines at home, start with the dry wines first.

I enjoy tasting new wines, and I hope your friend enjoys the adventure as well! :-)

Thanks! I'll pass that along.
I did suggest he frequent the local liquor store that offers wine tastings each weekend. :)
I'd ponder that, but he moves to a different office in a few weeks.

Serve 6 wines to someone not used to drinking wine?

Do not even think about doing this unless either you have a designated driver or a great homeowner's insurance policy.

Also, I question how much general information about wine can be learned this way. 6 random wines out of the thousands available? It might be more educational if you were to focus the choices, like 3 zinfandel followed by 3 Gewürztraminer, or 2 merlots, 2 cabs and 2 zinfandels. Hell, I've done winery tastings where we tried 6 Gewürztraminer, going from dry to way too sweet.

Learning about wine isn't done in a single evening, or even a 6 session course at the community college. Those can help you identify broad categories of wine you like, and really, "good wine" is what you like, not what Wine Spectator or NY Times says is good. I've had chardonnay that was $120/bottle and I hated it. I dislike chardonnay in general, but rarely dislike a zinfandel. What I like best is old vine zinfandels from Sonoma County. How did I get to the point where I can be so specific? A father who always let me have a sip from his glass, a couple courses with a master sommelier, and whole lot of weekends in the California wine country getting to know some of the winemakers.

Not everybody cares enough to delve so deeply into wine. For somebody who just wants to learn to enjoy a social glass, I'd suggest making a list of flavors you like, or dislike, and deciding on a price limit, and then finding a quality wine shop (which won't be in Pennsylvania!) and asking to talk to the wine buyer or other knowledgable staff. Tell them about what you like, dislike. Buy a couple bottles to try at home where you can relax and not be embarrassed if you hate it. Find out the suggested temperature at which to serve that particular wine, try it with food, maybe share it with friends.

Okay, if we're just going for general wine tasting 101, then we need to determine if the person prefers sweet or dry wine. Then we can go from there.

I didn't take it to mean serve all 6 bottles, but tastes from each.

He's in a position where while he enjoys a social glass that someone else has ordered, he'd like to speak knowledgeably to why, the flavors, etc.

He knows the very basics (white/red, sweet/dry, etc.) He wants to be knowledgeable about more of it. What flavors he should pay attention to, what makes it different from another, similar wine.

Precisely.

Best way to learn about wine is to drink it. It's not magic with weird incantations that must be said over the wine. Wine tastings are great learning experiences but wine will taste different with different foods (and will taste different with food than without). I like sauvignon blancs but not from certain regions. And I like merlots but not from some countries. Different people like different things but its easy to let yourself get intimidated. If you like it, drink it, even if it's Boone's Farm. Read a bit, list a winery, drink lots of wine.

How big is a taste? What's his alcohol tolerance? What's his state's definition of Impaired driving?

My point is that it would be too easy for someone in that situation - trying 6 different wines, "Oh, just another sip to compare these two" - to end up in a situation where they should not be behind the wheel of a car. We used to do wine tasting long weekends with friends, and each day one person would abstain from drinking and be the driver, rotating turns. I know from experience that when wine tasting it's easier to imbibe more than intended.

What makes it different as in how the wines came to be different, or how to tell the difference between say, a 10 year old oak aged cabernet and a "cabernet blend" with a screw top? Visiting quality wineries will help answer the first, and experience drinking different wines will help with the second. Doing blind tastings can also be very informative, as trying a wine without knowing its origins or price point can help you establish what it is you like without being influenced by anything but taste.

In the end, the secret to enjoying wine is trusting your own palate enough to say "I like this one, this style, this variety" without regard to other people's opinions. I know someone who loves Sutter Home White Zinfandel, which I think is dreck, but it makes him happy, so that's a good wine in his world and my opinion doesn't matter.

I agree with the "taste wine" replies. Visit vineyards and wineries and talk to the winemakers.

We also like to host blind tastings with a cheat sheet. Pour a couple of bottles each into a few large decanters and then create list of wines that includes the wines.

This was our list from a couple of weeks ago of which 3 of the wines were poured. One person out of about 40 got all 3 right.


2013 Sparkman Wilderness Red Blend (Syrah, Grenache, Tempranillo, Petit Syrah)

It brings aromas of dried herb, earth and blue and black fruit that are followed by palate-coating blue-fruit flavors, speckled with barrel spices, showing vibrant acidity.

2015 Terrunyo Block 27 Carmenere

Dark, deep red in color, Terrunyo Carmenere has complex and elegant aromas of ripe red berries, plum, spice and a hint of tobacco. Powerful and concentrated fruit flavors reappear on the palate caressed in sweet tannins. Full in the mouth with great structure and a lingering finish.

2014 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon

Dark ruby purple core lightening to medium intensity at the rim with moderate staining on the glass. Aromatic black fruit of cherry and blackcurrant jam, baking spice, dried leaf and sweet tobacco. Full bodied with bright black cherry, blackcurrant and berry fruit with an underpinning of oak barrel accents on entry. The mid palate shows continued fruit with savory herbal notes, mint and a hint of violet. The finish is clean, long and layered with lingering dark fruit surrounded by soft chewy tannins balanced by crisp acidity and subtle floral notes.

2014 Hedges CMS Blend (Cab, Merlot, Syrah)

Aromas of cinnamon, sweet plum and earthy pomegranate with hints of dried tobacco leaf, vanilla and dark cocoa powder. On the palate are flavors of ripe raspberry, milk chocolate and dried sage. Bright entry, full juicy mid-palate and a graceful finish with apparent and pleasing tannins. A nicely balanced wine, with enough acid and tannin to make this a more serious, longer lived wine that will go well with full flavored food.

2012 Alexandria Nicole Jet Black Syrah

Whole berry fermentation leads the way for this deep and dense black in color Syrah. There’s an energy driving the wine, immediately apparent in the sultry aromas of blackberries, huckleberry, mocha, lavender, and espresso. The flavors are thick and saturated, coating the mouth with dark cherry, toffee, cedar and a delicate leathery spice. A very generous mid-palate with loads of texture yet it manages to stay fresh and elegant, with juicy acidity, very fine, silky and sleek tannins, and a brilliant finish that certainly doesn’t lack for length. Impressive now, but if drinking before 2015, please decant.

2014 K Vintners The Boy Grenache

Transparent and pure are the first words that come to mind when tasting this wine. Then onto spice, tobacco, black leather, and white pepper. A full palate that comes together to an elegant and ethereal finish.

2013 Bookwalter Foreshadow Merlot

Deep ruby red-black color, clear. Ripe rich fruit with showy inviting oak aromas. Ripe pure fruit flavors refreshingly clean. Longlasting fresh fruit and oak are framed by smooth tannins. Built for a wide menu, this wine drinks invitingly well now.

2012 Obelisco Estate Grown Malbec

Aged in equal parts French and American oak (43% new), this initially puts barrel tones in the lead. Notes of toasty spices, cocoa, toffee and coffee come out in front of blue and black fruit. The flavors are sweet but reserved in style, trailing toward the finish. There's a lot to enjoy but the oak seems a little overweighted for the fruit that's in the bottle.

2013 Cambria Pinot Noir

Concentrated raspberry fruit meets with earthy rhubarb, cranberry, beet, orange rind and thyme herbs on the nose of this new project from the Jackson family. Tighter pomegranate and raspberry fruit show on the palate, alongside graphite and woody herbs. It's a reliably down-the-middle and fresh wine.

2012 Eberle Zinfandel

Supple and jammy, with floral black raspberry aromas and savory flavors of cherry pie, cinnamon and licorice that linger on the spiced vanilla tannins.

2017 Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill

With hints of lip gloss and sharpies, this wine is everything that it is supposed to be and is as easy going down as it is coming back up.

2014 Bunnell Red Heaven Hills Syrah

Chocolate covered cherry, cedar, and dirty cranberry nose. Medium, high acidity, and complex body. Earthy black fruit front. Big vanilla middle with cherries, cigar tobacco, and currants. The finish is leather, smokey cigar, black cherry, and chocolate.

2009 Chateau Margaux Balthazar

A brilliant offering from the Mentzelopoulos family, once again their gifted manager, Paul Pontallier, has produced an uncommonly concentrated, powerful 2009 Chateau Margaux made from 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest primarily Merlot with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. As with most Medocs, the alcohol here is actually lower (a modest 13.3%) than most of its siblings-. Abundant blueberry, cassis and acacia flower as well as hints of charcoal and forest floor aromas that are almost Burgundian in their complexity are followed by a wine displaying sweet, well-integrated tannins as well as a certain ethereal lightness despite the wine-s overall size. Rich, round, generous and unusually approachable for such a young Margaux, this 2009 should drink well for 30-35+ years.

2015 Mark Ryan The Dissident Blend (Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc)

The nose offers notes of violets, black currant, and cedar. A mix of tart red and black fruits. The palate, red cherry, blackberry, and red plum. On the mid palate, cocoa and graphite linger into the finish. The tannins are elegantly balanced with the acidity.

I must have burned out my taste buds eating spicy foods because I have never been able to taste other flavors other than grape. I've been drinking wine steadily for about 10 years and have yet to taste chocolate, vanilla, currants, etc. in a wine. Just grape. One day maybe, it's fun trying though!

They're more like hints of flavors than tasting the actual flavor. I usually mostly notice fruit flavors but every now and then pick up something more mineraly or something.

While I understand your thoughts on a tasting, I highly doubt that, in a situation like that, he would overindulge. If, by some chance, he did, we do have Uber out here.

Why are you doing this for your co-worker? On a side note, can you research how to detail my car every 3 weeks?

Incidentally, I recently read Cork Dork based on the suggestion in this thread. Interesting read, though I found it a little overblown at times ("Dinner at this restaurant will set you back $400 and only the super rich can go there!")

Because he's a nice guy and young (22-23).

This lady sums it up succinctly. You can try watching her other clips.

Thanks! I'll email that to him.

For someone starting out as a total beginner, I would suggest the book Wine Folly. Unlike most wine books, this is targeted towards beginners and is filled with very useful information like the different tastes that you can look for with a certain type of grape. To enjoy wine, I think one need some basic knowledge to get going. Another thing that I have found helpful is to join a class and be led through a tasting by an expert. Wine bars like Corkbuzz in NYC run classes regularly and you only have to do it once to get a feel for what serious wine geeks do when doing tasting.

Thanks! I'll pass that book onto him. Unfortunately, we aren't in a good area for wine bars. :(

To learn about wine is a varied task. For some it can mean a professional certification or complete training. For others it can be as simple as learning a framework of terms so your descriptions at least for yourself can be consistent across time.

The best thing I have seen come into the world of wine is the Systematic Approach to Tasting offered by WSET. It is the benchmark worldwide and used by all Masters of Wine and to a large extent by Master Sommeliers. Watching something like the movie Somm gives you a chance to see someone run through a structured SAT tasting. It allows wine fans around the globe to describe wines with a set if terms that allow comparison. It also sets up a standard of "balance" against which quality can be judged. Taking a level 3 course done by a WSET licensed teacher is very basic and very easy and very very worthwhile for understanding wine. If it is more than you wish to do then a good tasting group of friends will help get a shy drinker up to a point of confidence fairly quickly. For me, being able to describe wines at a particular meal is not as useful as being able to compare thoughts on wines from dinners spread over a decade or several. The more structured approach allows for that.

Probably a bit late, but I'll bite since I am a certified sommelier. No I don't know everything (nor do I pretend to do know it all) and I don't work in the industry. It's a hobby of mine.

Anyways, like others have said, I would suggest taking a course.Perhaps at a local college or university to learn the basics or maybe there's a restaurant that offers 4-6 week crash courses as an intro to wine. While you likely won't be able to tell the difference between say Rutherford or Coombsville Cabs, you'll at the very least know that Pinot Noir's ancestral home is from France (Burgundy) and that good new world examples are also grown in New Zealand and Oregon.

After that, if your friend is serious, I'd suggest looking into WSET unless if you want to work in the trade/restaurant in which case Court of Master Sommeliers is a bit more practical. IMO, WSET is more geared towards sales, marketing, etc. but that's not to say that one is necessarily better than another (although some people will swear by one or the other exclusively)

Feel free to shoot any questions over. I've done both WSET and CMS.

Thanks! I'll suggest that to him.

Right on the money with this post.

Some restaurants offer wine education courses.
Also, there's a ton of Youtube videos and e-books.

One of the most interesting wine courses I attended was to taste all wines in black stemware. We were unable to discern if the wine was red, white, or rose. They even went further and served us white wines not chilled, and red wines chilled. Then to really mess with us, they matched the wines with various music. It provided a new perspective of wine without a visual or temperature reference, and the music really played with the mind. This is a simple thing to do at home with some friends.

I like that idea!

I really enjoyed this book. Now I did know something of wine, but this book is well written and brought some new perspectives:
The Wine Avenger by Willie Gluckstern

If you don't want to learn about wines you can simply purchase and pour the daily Trader Joe's specials and most of your friends will think you're an amazing person.