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Wine Education - How to Choose Wine in a Wine Shop
Choosing wine can be very confusing. Even if you are a member of a wine club and you receive six bottles of wine every quarter, what about those times when you want to buy a dry white wine to complement your seafood dinner or you want to buy a special rose wine for a friend's birthday?
Some labels mention the country but not the grape or the grape but not there region where the wine was produced. Other labels will not tell you whether the wine in the bottle is dry, fruity, oaked, and full-bodied or something else. So how do you avoid buying a bottle of something you do not like?
Your Personal Preference
The most important thing is to know what you like. You might already have a good idea of which wines you find pleasing if you have been sampling lots of different ones. If not, perhaps you should try some different wines in wine bars or restaurants or attend a wine class at your local college. Wine tasting is all about what you prefer.
Different people prefer different wines. Not everyone likes beef so why should everyone like Chardonnay? Not everybody likes a certain type of clothing or car or cuisine so why should we all like the same kind of wine?
If you know that you like Pinot Noir, for example, you can go into a wine store and walk around the Pinot Noir section. Have a look at the different price ranges and decide how much you are prepared to spend. Remember that the price does not necessarily indicate the quality of the wine. A $7 bottle is not necessarily dreadful and a $75 bottle is not necessarily better than a $50 bottle. Not many people apart from professionals with a full wine education could taste the difference between a $50 bottle and a $75 bottle anyway.
The notes on the back of the label might tell you which food the wine would suit but you can ignore more of the description since it was written by the winemaker in order to tempt you to buy the bottle. If the label says, "this heavenly red wine is super-smooth and perfect with beef", that might mean the wine is red, quite smooth and suitable to pair with beef but it might not necessarily taste "heavenly" to you.
Ask for Assistance
The wine store owner is staking his reputation on the hand-written notes next to the bottles, so use those as a more accurate guide. Call a wine store employee over and explain what kind of wine you are looking for. Be clear about what you like, what you do not like and your budget. If you say, "I have $15 to spend. I like Pinot Noir but don't really like Merlot", that gives the wine store employee a guideline and he can then make a guess at what type of Pinot Noir you would like. He should give you at least a couple of choices and you can choose the one that suits your price range.
If there is no employee available, you can go by the type of wine you like and the ratings. Write down the names of the ones you do not buy and then order a glass of one of those the next time you are in a restaurant. Some wine shops offer tastings, which is a great help as well.
Remember that personal preference is the key to wine selection. No wine store owner is going to share your exact taste in food or wine so improve your wine education and choose wines which you personally like.
