Wine Knowledge

One of the most popular questions for people who are beginning their wine education “journey” is this: How do I gain more wine knowledge?

Let’s face it, wine is intimidating to many people. There are so many books, wine shops, connoisseurs, wineries, sommeliers, etc. who all have their own opinion on wine and what they like to drink (and in many cases they like to espouse on what they DON’T like to drink, too.) So how do you wade through this sea of information to get the wine knowledge you want?

Here at love to know we pride ourselves on being able to provide clear, consise information on a variety of wine subjects. Those who are new to wine can find information on the various types of wine and the special wine vocabulary. More experience wine drinks will enjoy the tips on the to try as well as the more detailed information such as food and wine pairings and wine reviews.

First thing is to look into wine education courses. Ten years ago you were probably hard pressed to find a wine class anywhere except through university programs or culinary school. Now there are many — from your local Parks and Recreation Department to Community College, to online, to some being offered at your wine shop. In other words, there are many. It’s always a good place to start — even if you’re a more seasoned wine aficionado there is always something you can learn or pick up from a wine education class. In many instances, if you really enjoy the classroom environment and exploring wine topics in which you were not familiar, perhaps continuing your education through more classes on specific wine-growing regions or varietal topics is up your alley. Who knows, the Wine 101 class could just be the door to many other classes.

Another way to increase your wine knowledge is to get out there and try wines you haven’t tried before. Practice makes perfect, right? Well, that’s true in the wine world too.

Let’s say you are having trouble picking out smells in wines (i.e. “I don’t get black cherry and boysenberry in this!”) If you keep trying different wines and trying different varietals, you will hone your sense of smell through application. The more wines you try, the better you’ll get at the sensory evaluation part. Besides gaining wine knowledge in this area, you gain wine knowledge about the wines in general.

If you taste one Zinfandel would you then think you know Zins and what they smell like? Probably not. If you’ve tried 100s of them over the years would you say you have a handle on what Zinfandel typically has for taste/smell characteristics? Probably. Again, practice makes perfect.

One way to keep practicing your wine tasting and growing your wine knowledge is to not do it alone. Doing most things in life with another person(s) is usually more fun, and the field of wine is no exception. So, get together with your other wine-loving friends and form a tasting group. Chances are those friends have wine-loving friends too, and the group becomes decent sized. Now, each person/couple brings a bottle of wine to someone’s house (which switches to another person’s house next month, of course.) Make it a theme…say “Favorite Pinot Noir Under $30” or “Red Wines of Northern Italy” and the list goes on.

Since you’re not the person buying ALL the wine for this tasting, you get to inexpensively try other wines that you may not have had the opportunity to taste before. You can be clever and invite guest speakers or make it a wine and food theme. These wine groups are fun, informative and you can be as creative as you want.

Periodicals are an obvious way to gain more wine knowledge as well. With so many wine magazines or trade publications it is very easy to stay current in the goings-on of the wine industry. You can read about new trends or wines from producers you’ve not heard of, read about wine regions you’ve never seen, visited or tasted from.

Two suggestions to start your wine magazine subscriptions:

• Go to a bookstore or newsstand and buy one of each before settling on which to subscribe to. This way you can get a sense of the writing styles and what topics are covered and if it really “speaks” to you.
• Some suggestions to start you out would be The Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast and Food and Wine Magazine. There are others, but these three are main-stream for industry.

Magazines aren’t the only way to hone your wine knowledge. There are MANY message boards, websites, blogs, you name it … that are all about wine. Some wineries use Facebook and Twitter to communicate about their next releases. It’s amazing how many wineries have jumped on this technological band-wagon. The nice thing is, most websites or wine blogs are free and are loaded with good suggestions and topics.

Books are a great way to learn more about wine at your own pace, too. There are so many different styles, shapes, topics, etc., which exist that your best bet would be to take an afternoon and head to your favorite book shop. There you can peruse all the different types and see which one you like. If you’re starting out, maybe Wine for Dummies is for you. If you’re more of a pro a must-have is The World Atlas of Wine.

There are so many fun ways to gain your wine knowledge that your only problem will be figuring out the time you can spend on learning so much! Try new things, explore new wines, and your quest for wine knowledge will be never-ending, but always rewarding. Cheers!

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