People who are beginning to develop an interest in wine are often surprised by its apparent complexity. Many readily admit to “knowing nothing about wine.” But is wine really that hard to learn?
No. Wine may be a huge subject, but like anything else in life, some effort and study will remove the cloak of mystery. If you think about it, driving a car is a complicated task. After practicing for a while, it becomes easier. As adults, we have become accustomed to all of the tasks involved in safely operating a vehicle. It is almost as if it is second-nature. The English language is very complicated, but with a lot of time and effort, we learned to speak and write English–either as our first or as a second language.
Like any other subject, wine can be studied. If you wish, you can even master the subject. As you begin (or continue) your exploration of wine, you may find yourself falling into one of three categories:
1. The casual wine drinker. This person wants to know the basics, and that’s about it. Just enough to know how to order wine in a restaurant, and just enough to know the differences between different major wine grapes.
2. The wine enthusiast. This person wants to move beyond the basics and learn a lot about wine. The wine enthusiast has fun exploring the topic, often with friends.
3. The wine expert. This person wants to learn just about everything possible about wine, like a wine enthusiast but on steroids. Perhaps the wine expert wants to work in the wine trade as a sommelier or wine maker. The wine expert may also simply be someone who pursues knowledge for its own sake. The wine expert will enjoy the serious, in-depth mastery of wine.
The goal of the Wine For Newbies 101 series is to satisfy your desire to become a casual wine drinker and to “graduate” you into a wine enthusiast–if you wish. The Wine For Newbies 101 series will also serve as a foundation for the beginning wine expert, who will go on to study the subject using other resources.
You will note that I have not referred to another wine person: the connoisseur. A connoisseur is someone who is an expert (maybe in his or her own mind only) on matters of taste in any subject–music, art, food, etc. Many of us have another term to describe the connoisseur: the wine snob.
If you are a wine connoisseur/wine snob, you probably will not enjoy the underlying message of Wine For Newbies 101: the very best wine in the world is the one you most enjoy drinking. That wine could be a rare bottle of Champagne, or it could be a twelve-dollar bottle picked up at the grocery store. The wine snob wouldn’t be caught dead drinking an inexpensive wine. A wine enthusiast or expert, however, will recognize that great wine can be found everywhere at every price level.
So, if you’re ready to learn about wine, we will begin.
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