IMO— start with white wines & champagnes and then move to reds. Don’t worry about becoming an expert— but sample 2-3 wines at a time. I didn’t drink much growing up, so I had to build my palate in college, and I did that by going to Trader Joe’s and picking up a new bottle every week (plus a bottle that I sampled and liked, to increase my fluency).

 
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If you don't currently like wine, you'll need to work your way up from mild and sweet to the more robust and tannic ones. Champagne is basically like soda; I like cava's, but there is a wide range of sweetness to fit your needs. White wines like Riesling can be sweet and approachable (not all are sweet), and sauvignon blanc is pretty mild. After a while, you can move on to chardonnay (these can be citrusy or more oaky) and white Bordeaux's.

Red is a whole other ball game. I'd start with mild red's like merlot or pinot. They aren't very tannic or robust. You can then move up to Bordeaux blends/rhone blends, which mix more robust grapes in. Once you like those, you can go with full varietals like cabernet or syrah, which can be pretty aggressive. After mastering those, you can move onto the really intense (and fantastic) barberas, nebbiolos, barolos, etc.

My personal favorites are rhone blends/Bordeaux blends, intense Italian varietals, syrah, creamy chardonnays, crisp sauvignon blancs, and the best Amarone della valpolicella

 

As a heir to vineyards in France (my family produces wine) - it is a heresy to drink white Bordeaux. Feel free to PM if you want some good references (won a worldwide gold medal for a Gewurtztraminer) - yes that's a shameless promotion.

From dry to very sweet: Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Riesling , Pinot blanc, Muscat, Sylvaner, Gewurtztraminer But again consider that some might be more fruity/mineral. To simplify I usually see wine as a 2D map - for whites the x axis is sweetness/dryness and the y axis being Fruitiness/mineral. As a previous use said try wines on a weekly basis and map them out. Once you have tried all of the above varieties, you may want to change the locations and start mapping further flavors. You might as well consider what you may eat to match them. Sweet ones work for starters - ie fois gras, where as dryer ones will be great alongside poultry, cheese, fish.

There's also yellow wine but ewww I don't like it. Won't comment on reds as this is not my expertise.

 

You should check out the documentary Sour Grapes on Netflix. It's about a guy in the early 2000's who corners the wine market and ends up doing some illegal dealings. The best line is (from some douche sitting in the back of a car referring to a certain champagne I believe) "Always go with the '96. If you can't afford the '96, go with the '02. If you can't afford the '02, drink fucking beer."

 

Also, if you want to learn more about the tastes and characteristics of various wines and regions, I would recommend the book (and blog) Wine Folly. It's simple to read but is full of good information for a beginner.

Once you start to learn what you like, you'll want to find a good wine shop you can go to. If they're good, they'll be able to recommend things for you to try based on other things you've had and liked/disliked.

 

It really is an acquired taste. I used to be like you and like others said, just drink. Try all the different types and figure out what works for you, just like dating in a way.

I'd also recommend getting acquainted to wine by pairing it with food, ask waiters for recommendations. Now I can't have a steak without a decent glass of red.

"A guy gets on the MTA here in L.A. and dies. Think anybody'll notice?" - Vincent
 

Start sweet, (and you'll eventually make your way back to sweet after you've exhausted every other type of wine out there).

White wines to start with: German Riesling, specifically find ones that have "Spatlese" or at least "Kabinett" on the label. Dr. Loosen makes a pretty good cheap starter wine for this. These are sweet. American Riesling is most often in a dry style, don't go for dry right away.

Sauvignon Blanc is beginner friendly as well. New Zealand is known for their Sauv Blancs and you really can't go wrong - Cloudy Bay being one of the more famous and you don't have to spend more than $35 for this well known bottle. Dog Point is also a good one from NZ that's not as well known, therefore a bit cheaper ($20).

For a sweet/dessert red wine: If you want to drink wine soda get a Brachetto. When people say champagne is like soda, this is what I think of, not actual champagne. I'm not saying drink Brachetto regularly, but if you want a wine soda, this is it. When you want to know if you've started to "get" wine, go back to this and see if it tastes too sweet to you. If it does - you've started to build your palate (doesn't mean you still can't enjoy it though).

For dry reds: Any Malbec from Argentina is going to be pretty easy drinking for red and pairs easily with food.

If you want to try to get an 'aha' moment early in wine - try some okay reds - basically any red by the glass at a restaurant is going to be okay (not saying they're shitty, but they're usually mass produced wines) and then try a bottle of Caymus Cabernet. It's pricier - $75-$90 depending on where you get it. It's a fruit bomb wine that newer wine drinkers like. And it's usually their go to "fancy" wine. It's not my favorite, but I certainly understand the appeal of it. I've met many people who didn't "get" wine until exposing them to this wine or something similar (after drinking their fair share of okay wines for a benchmark).

Drink what you like. Check out Wine Folly, and the podcasts Wine for Normal People and I'll Drink to That if you're interested in learning more.

 

Go to your local wine shop and ask the store owner what his favorites are within your price range. He'll probably light up and walk you all over the store explaining wine A vs. wine B and the different "flavor profiles" and this, that and the other. It will sound like a lot of gibberish but you'll probably come out of it with a good bottle at a good price.

 

seriously, this is the move. if I had no introduction to wine from my family, I would just go to a wine class at a wine shop or during a restaurant week. alternatively, get a group of friends together, go to a tapas bar, and bring your own wine (usually a small corkage fee). just tell whoever the connoisseur is to buy a few bottles and then sample. use an app or your phones notes to remember what you like, and go from there.

if you really want to be spoiled though, just go to italy, france, spain, order whatever red they recommend, and then look down on most everything when you come back stateside

 

goto Costco....they are the largest wine buyer/seller on earth...they have the lowest prices...and the range of flavors that is pleasing to the largest number of palates.

For a red, i suggest you try the $13 bottle of Malbec they have from Mendoza Argentina (i don't remember the name) and consume with red meat (steak or burger). If it sells at costco, that means that a LOT of people buy it...and keep buying it.

However, stay away from the kirkland brand wines...just like trader joe's brand (charles shaw) that stuff is horrible.

just google it...you're welcome
 

Are you asking for specific recommendations or just a general approach?

If the latter, and you're in any kind of major metro area, do a little research on the best and most extensive wine & spirits store available. Not the one by the train station, but one with staff that know their shit and are willing to help you. Walking into a random store where the guy behind the counter is just trying to sell as much shit as possible to make rent isn't a good idea unless you specifically know what you want.

So go in, ask for some help, explain your trying to get into wine, and ask whoever is assisting you to recommend 8 or 9 different grape varietals from all over the place, and buy a case of wine. Spend a little money, like 20-40/bottle. You'll get good wine for that price, no question. And then open a couple every weekend, drink with a friend/girlfriend/whoever, and drink at least a couple glasses at one sitting. Jot down first reactions, likes, dislikes, whatever. After a couple months when you finish that case, look back through your scribbles. Pick out the 2 or 3 favorites. Go back to that wine store and ask to do a deeper dive in those grapes/regions. Ask for a bottle or two of similar but new varietals to try.

It'll take years to get a good palate. Longer to know the history and characteristics. But hell - you're drinking wine and having some fun, so who cares how long it takes? The key is to find something you enjoy and drink enough of it that you can recognize it by taste/smell/sight. Once you have that for one type of wine, it's not so hard to apply that palate to new wines.

 

While you usually can't go wrong with asking your local wine shop/liquor store staff for some suggestions, attending a class or two can be a lot of fun. Regardless, the key is to try a bit of everything you can, since it's just as important to know what you don't like as well as what you do like.

In NYC, there's the Astor Center https://www.astorcenternyc.com - I've attended numerous wine tastings and aged rum tastings there, and you get to buy anything at their liquor and wine shop for an additional 10% off with a flyer from the class you attended.. If you're not in NY, there's bound to be similar businesses in your town.

Classes are a fun social setting and while you do pay for the class, you don't get "stuck" with an entire bottle of anything that you don't like. You get to ask questions, you learn quite a bit and very likely you wind up clicking with a few other people in attendance.

There's an amazing range of wines from a lot of countries and also some really tasty wines coming out of not only California, but Oregon and Washington too. Rascal is from Oregon, it's a Pinot Noir which means while it's fruity, it's not sweet. Elk Cove is similar.

I like a bit of everything, Malbecs, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Gerwurtztraminer, red blends and many varietals from the Cotes du Rhone region.

Also, a little tip... any time that I receive something that doesn't really blow my hair back, I usually end up making sangria with it or add some sugar, rum and spices to it and make a reduction out of it to drizzle over ice cream or fruit.

 

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