How to get into Wine

Getting into wine is something that definitely takes time. I’m 28 now and didn’t really start drinking wine until I graduated college at 22. At first I would drink anything (Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab, Pinot, Chianti, brunello, Malbec, Tempranillo etc.) and I would drink cheap wine but as I drink more I have refined my palate and my tasting preferences have evolved. I now mostly drink Cabernet Sauvignon and French Bordeaux. I have discovered I prefer wines that are bold, tannic, dry and acidic. I also like wine with tasting notes that are oaky(oak, vanilla, tobacco), black fruit (blackberry, plum, dark cherry) with some spice (licorice, pepper).

My biggest recommendation is download the Vivino app and Vivino every wine you drink. Take notes if you like it or not and why do or do not like each wine. Read the tasting notes and wine profile that other reviewers have left on the wine and the more you do that you will discover what you like and what you don’t like.

When you vacation, trying going to the famous wine growing regions of the world (Napa for cab sauv, Bordeaux region of France, Tuscany for Chianti and Brunello, Hawkes Bay NZ for Pinot etc) and and make it a point to research and visit the best vineyards you can find. Do a tasting at each vineyard where you try 3-6 of their wines and takes notes on what you like and don’t like. I recommend you visit no more than 2-3 vineyards in a day. I find visiting the wine growing regions and going to the vineyards creates a physical experience that supplements and enhances your head knowledge on wine and gives you more authority when offering your opinion on wine.

You should also read various wine journals (Robert Parker’s wine advocate, wine spectator, and James suckling are the big 3) to pick up more clues on the various attributes in a region that can make or break each vintage. For instance, 1994 was one of the best vintages in Napa caused by warm spring, cool summer, mild fall and optimal rain that led to a nice acidity to balance a ripe fruit. 1998 was one of the worst years as it was cool and wet during the whole season which led to a poor harvest.

Aside from the above, another basic resource to get started is the book “Wine folly” or just good old YouTube.

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Everyone's going to throw ideas at you. Pick one to start.

Something that's missing so far: Sirach. It can have a... distinct... flavor profile.

Puked too much drinking too much wine in college, and now my brain associates wine with feeling nauseous, so I prolly wont be able to get into it rip

Drink wine with people who appreciate it and have more knowledge than you. Learn from them.

Drink wine often.

Drink wine in pairs/side-by-sides/blinds. Tasting wines successively is very helpful with developing a taste profile.

Visit wineries. Speak to the hospitality team. Ask about the winemaking process. Tour the vines. Tour the winery.

Chat with employees at retail wine shops. Chat with the sommelier/beverage director at restaurants.

Read books. This one can be helpful, but more so after you have base knowledge.

Personal experience: high yield on drinking wine with knowledgeable friends, visiting wineries, and drinking blinds and side-by-sides.

After building a base: sommelier/beverage director/retail employee becomes more helpful, along with reading books/trade publications and listening to podcasts.

I'd recommend the book Drink This: Wine Made Simple. Instead of an encyclopedic wine reference, it's more like a tasting guide - so the chapter on Pinot Grigio explains the boundaries of the style and says 'ask your wine shop for three Pinot Grigios with characteristics X, Y, Z', then drink them together and learn which characteristics to look for and not 

Watch this:

https://www.hbo.com/how-to-with-john-wilson/season-2/2-how-to-appreciat…

I've got a ton to offer here, but will keep it as brief as I can (edit: this was not brief).

First, let me give a few goals I usually give to people looking to get into wine for the first time. You should:

1. Know the regions and varietals of wine you like to drink the most. In other words, your go-to styles, such as Pinot noir from Burgundy, or Cabernet sauvignon from Napa. (Yes, wine is much more nuanced than this, but I don't worry about that for beginners.)
2. Know the representative flavor characteristics of major wine regions and varietals, such that you can recommend a bottle based on someone's desired flavor profile.
3. Have a sense for "value" on a wine menu (i.e. this bottle is well-priced, this bottle is overpriced).

Goal #1 gives you a safe zone to order from, goal #2 gives you a framework for discussing wine, and goal #3 gives you the ability to order wine intelligently at a restaurant.

Here are a few of the things that worked well for me when learning.

Find at least one friend to learn with. If you have a friend that already knows about wine, terrific, ask them for assistance. Most oenophiles love teaching others about the field. If not, find a friend that wants to learn with you. The reason to learn with a friend is to keep each other honest, and to be able to discuss what you're drinking.

Taste side-by-side. It will be easiest to determine what you like and don't like about wines if you can place them in context. For example, if you want to build a palette for Chardonnay, you would do well to taste a Napa Valley Chardonnay, a Willamette Valley Chardonnay, a Chablis Chardonnay, and a Côte de Beaune Chardonnay. Discuss them with your friend or tasting group, compare and contrast them, and let them develop in the glass over an hour or so.

Taste different vintages and producers. This should go without saying, but you can't just try one glass of German riesling and be done. Winemaking can vary greatly for any number of reasons, and while it's too early for you to really learn what distinguishes a 2013 vs 2015 Burgundy Pinot, you do want to get as many reps as you can.

Taste critically. Many sommeliers and wine aficionados will use the Court of Master Sommeliers tasting grid to critically evaluate what's in the glass. "The grid," as it's often referred to, is a checklist of questions you might ask of the wine, such as "do I taste apple/pear here?" or "is the wine high in acid?" I actively recommend this to new wine tasters because it gives them a way to discuss wine by using a shared vocabulary, as opposed to just saying "I like this wine" or "this wine is too strong for me."

• https://www.mastersommeliers.org/sites/default/files/Certified_Examinat…
• https://www.mastersommeliers.org/sites/default/files/Certified_Examinat…

Read up on the region and grape once you have a sense of what it tastes like. It's good to hear what experienced wine tasters have to say about a particular style of wine-making. This is a helpful way to see what others think of general tasting notes, learn about "canonical" or go-to producers you should try, and dig more into the history of a wine region. The information will stick with you more having tasted several wines of that type. The other benefit of doing this is that this will give you some basis of cultural references, so if you ever hear someone mention Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or Screaming Eagle or Sassicaia, you might actually know what they're talking about.

Talk to sommeliers and ask stupid questions. They're happy to help point you in the right direction, especially because fewer people care about what's in the bottle than you'd expect. You can tell them that you're new to wine but trying to learn, give them a target price range, and give them a flavor profile you're looking to explore (i.e. rich, creamy white wine). You can also ask if they have any interesting wines on the list that they personally enjoy that are made by up-and-coming producers (read: not going to get ripped off i price). Note that when I say talk to sommeliers, I mean at restaurants that are cuisine-oriented and have a dedicated wine program. The waiter at The Smith selling you cheap rosé isn't going to have a view on any of it. I'm not sure how to best explain it other than there are mass-market wines and there are "craft" wines, and you shouldn't expect to get good advice from people selling you The Pinot Project or whatever.

Books are most helpful if you really want to learn how experts think about wine. There are good recommendations listed in this thread already. I'll throw in The Wine Bible by Karen McNeil, which is extremely comprehensive and a great way to understand how experts think about all the intricacies of the world of wine. For me personally, I was only able to retain the information after I came in with some wine tasting knowledge already. That said, if you are starting from zero knowledge, a gentle introduction can be useful as it can teach you some basic facts such as which countries in the world are known for winemaking, what are the most popular varietals of wine, how wine is actually made, etc.

Hope this was clear enough. Happy to answer any questions anyone might have.