An Amateur's Guide to Drinking Great Wine
The tools & terms that will help you learn what you like and start drinking better
Americans drank one billion gallons of wine in 2020, according to research from the Wine Institute1. That’s roughly 30 million gallons more than the year prior, which probably won’t surprise those of you thinking about the bottles of chardonnay you slurped down with your Zoom camera off. It’s ok. I feel you.
Yet, wine is not America’s favorite drink. A recent Gallup poll found about 31% of American adults are most likely to drink wine, trailing behind beer (39%) and staying ahead of liquor (27%). I often hear friends and aquaintances say they don’t really drink wine, they don’t know much about it so they just grab the cheapest bottle, or they don’t stray beyond what they already like because it’s intimidating. It doesn’t have to be this way.
This guide is for anyone who is new to drinking wine, or likes wine and wants to expand their knowledge and palate. You will learn a few basic terms, how to use a wine label to find what you want, and why the process for tasting a wine involves all that swirling and sniffing.
Wine, for me, is a way to slow down and enjoy life. I love how wine brings me into the present moment, and how it brings people together. I’ve spent years learning and tasting as much as I can. I am not a sommelier2 (it’s on my to-do list), but I did write this with the help of a lifelong wine lover who is studying to be one, my Uncle Ted.
Explore, explore, explore
The best advice I can give to anyone wanting to learn more about wine is to explore. Try as many wines as you can. There are great wines and not-so-great wines at every price point. You may already know you like a certain type of wine and that’s wonderful! But your palate changes as you try new things. There’s a lot of wine out there and the industry is changing. Climate change has lead some wine producers to plant different varietals3 than in years past, or change their winemaking strategy.
For example, I recently visited a few wineries in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The server for the first tasting of the day poured a bright pink rosè of pinot noir. It was the 2020 vintage4. During the intense wildfires last summer, smoke settled into the valley, ruining some of the grapes with what’s called “smoke taint.” This is when smoke permeates the skin of the grapes and makes the resulting wine essentially undrinkable. Unless you would take the ashes from the bottom of a campfire, add water, swish and swallow. In that case, enjoy! Smoke taint only affects the making of red wines, because the skin is kept in contact with the juice during the fermentation process. It’s the grape skin, not the juice, that gives a wine its color. The skins are removed very early in the process of white winemaking, so the smoke has no impact. The Willamette Valley is most known for beautiful, delicate pinot noirs—so what do you do when smoke likely ruined your signature grape? Remove the skins of the red grapes soon after crushing them so the campfire taste doesn’t seep into your wine. Again, skins give wine its color so—BAM. Rosè.
Climate change has also given more notoriety to regions that didn’t receive much attention before, because the growing conditions have changed. For instance, New Zealand has crept up on Uncle Ted’s list of regions to visit.
You don’t have to go out of your way to try different types of wine. Order a glass of something you’ve never heard of with dinner. Head to a wine bar for your next happy hour and order a flight. If you are curious and kind, most servers and bartenders are willing to help you out. We’ll talk about that more later.
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How to Read a Wine Label
Perhaps the most common way people drink wine, however, is by heading into a store and grabbing something off the shelf. There’s also been a huge surge in ordering wine online, especially since the start of the pandemic, so knowing how to read a wine label is critical.
I’m going to use a few examples from my own wine fridge here.
Above, we see the name of the winery, J. Bookwalter, at the top of the label. We also see “Protagonist”, which is the name of this particular wine (J. Bookwalter has literary names for all of their wines, and I love it). Much of the time, wines will be simply named after their varietal. The varietal for this wine is Cabernet Sauvignon. Note the bottom of the label: Columbia Valley AVA, Washington State.
AVA stands for “American Viticultural Area”. These are official wine-growing regions designated by the U.S. government. Right now, the U.S. has 258 AVAs. AVAs let wine drinkers know exactly where the wine comes from. They give you clues about the characteristics of a wine based on where its grown. Every country has its own rules for how wine is labeled and how growing regions are designated.
Take this bottle from Italy. The label says denominazione di origine controllata e garantita, abbreviated DOCG, which is the highest designation a wine can have in Italy. Italian wine designation rules are strict about not only where the grapes are grown, but how the wine is produced.
Here’s one more thing to look for on a label about a wine’s origin.
Check out the label on this wine from Saviah Cellars. We have the varietal (viognier), the AVA (Walla Walla Valley), and a line that says “Saviah Estate Vineyard.” The word “estate” is typically a good sign. I’ll let my soon-to-be-sommelier uncle, Ted Roberts, explain. He left this comment on my last post:
“Stick with wines that are labeled as ‘Estate.’ That means they were grown in the place where they were made and bottled. Alternatively, the more specific the origin designation, the less likely it is to be bulk wine with chemicals added. For example, ‘Napa Valley’ is more specific than ‘California.’ Sub-designations like Rutherford or Carneros are even more specific than Napa.”
There’s another clue on the back of the label that tells you the wine was produced in the same place it was grown.
These are the back labels of all three wines mentioned above. Note that each label says either “produced and bottled by” or “estate bottled by”. That’s a great clue. Bulk wines will typically say “vinted and bottled by” instead. However, this is not a concrete truth. There are a lot of great wineries out there that buy their grapes from other places and process them. That information is not usually on the label, though, and is a bit “in the weeds” if you’re new to drinking wine.
There’s a few more things you can find on the label that may help you out:
Vintage. If you are just starting your wine journey, don’t too caught up in the year the wine was produced. I like dry red wine, so if I’m at the store picking up a bottle that will be opened that night for dinner or to bring to a party, I’ll buy something that’s 5-7 years old, because I tend to like red wine that’s been in the bottle that amount of time. Other than that, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Varietal. Once you know what varietals you like, you’ll easily be able to pick something off a shelf. You should also check the label if you’re buying a blend. For example, the J. Bookwalter Protagonist is actually a blend. If you look at the back, you see the wine is made with 92% percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah, and 3% Petite Verdot. However, some labels will just say “Red Blend” or “White Blend” without telling you what exactly what’s inside. I tend to steer clear of those because the description is just too broad.
Tasting notes. Many labels will describe the tasting notes or how the wine was aged. For example, “spicy, floral aromatic” on the Saviah Viognier, or “elegant spicy notes” on the Montepulciano. These descriptions can also give you clues to help you find what you are looking for.
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How to Taste Wine
What’s with all the swirling and sniffing, anyway? The rituals around tasting a glass of wine can be confusing, even off-putting, if you’re new to wine. There is a method to the madness, though, and we’re gonna break down some basics. This part requires your full attention and engages all of your senses.
How does it look?
So you’ve selected a bottle from the store and uncorked it, or you’ve ordered a glass at a restaurant. The first thing you want to do is hold the glass up to a neutral background (like a white paper menu). Is the color practically clear? Ruby red? Almost purple? Are there sediments gathered at the bottom of the glass? Just by looking at a wine, you can find clues about:
The varietal
If the wine is light or full-bodied
The age of the wine
Here’s an example from one of my own bottles.
You can see in the photo this wine is ruby red. The wine is so clear you can even see the reflection of my house off of the surface. That tells me it’s a light-bodied red varietal, like pinot noir (it is, in fact, a pinot noir from Elk Cove Vineyards in the Willamette Valley). A full-bodied red like cabernet sauvigon would appear more opaque, with a dark center in the glass.
You can also see that ruby color is pretty consistent throughout. There isn’t much of a miniscus—the edge of the pour. That tells me it’s a young wine (this one was bottled in 2018). The color of an older wine would fade more toward the edges—a lighter miniscus. Flakes of sediment in the wine also indicate age.
Swirl It Around
Next, set the wine glass down on a flat surface and gently swirl it in a circle. The reason for swirling the wine around in the glass is to get some oxygen in there. Have you ever heard someone say “let it breathe” after opening a bottle? Same idea. It creates a chemical reaction that brings out the characteristics of wine, like waking it up from a nap. This will also bring out the wine’s aroma.
Take a Sniff
After you’ve swirled the wine, stick your nose in the glass and breathe it all in. Don’t be shy, really put your nose down in there. No one is judging you. The smell is the final preview before you take a drink. At this point, you can ask yourself a simple question: Do I smell dirt, or do I smell fruit?
Take a sip
Now, take a sip. Let the wine travel over every part of your tongue, touching as many taste buds as possible. Now reframe the earlier question: Do I taste dirt then fruit, or do I taste fruit then dirt? If you taste dirt first and enjoy it, you’ll probably like more “old world” wines—from the traditional wine regions of Europe like Italy, France, and Spain. If you taste fruit first and like that, you’ll probably enjoy more “new world” wines—wines from everywhere else. Maybe you’ll like both! This is also not a hard and fast rule. There are plenty of wines produced outside of Europe that could be deemed “dirt-forward”, but this rubric will help you start figuring out what you like and don’t like. Bonus tip: Let the wine sit in the glass awhile and go through the process again. Notice how it’s changed slightly as it’s mixed with even more oxygen.
Conclusion: Be Curious, Be Kind
Learning about wine can feel like diving into an ocean—there’s so much more to discover the deeper you go. Hopefully I’ve helped you feel comfortable dipping your toes in. When you’re at a restaurant, a bar, or maybe even at a winery exploring what’s out there, take Ted Lasso’s advice and be curious. Ask questions, even if you feel silly. If you are thoughtful and kind, you’ll find most people are happy to help you on your journey. I see this all the time in my partner, who has tagged along on many wine tastings with me over the years, despite being more of a beer & whiskey drinker. He asks winery employees endless questions, unafraid of appearing ingnorant. And if someone looks down their nose at you for wanting to learn something new—they don’t deserve your business anyway. Cheers!
I want to hear from you! Did this post teach you something about wine you didn’t know before? What did I miss? Tell me what else you want to know—I’d love to answer in the comments or a future post!
An advocacy group that lobbies for California’s wine industry
A certified wine expert
A type of grape (merlot, chardonnay, riesling, etc.)
The year the grapes in a particular wine were harvested
This is great! I will definitely be looking at my wines differently. I am looking forward to utilizing your tips on an upcoming wine trail in Virginia.
This is fantastic, especially for a totally uneducated wine-drinker such as myself. I'll have to pin a quick-link to this in my phone so I can pull it up whenever I'm on my way to dinner parties, for help picking out something enjoyable.