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"This used to baffle me, but once I thought about it, reading a wine label just started to make sense."
I'm going to start off with this point, because I think the common mindset is that wine is either really prohibitively expensive or Two Buck Chuck. The truth is that you can find delicious wine at just about every price point. The popularity and reputation of certain wine regions often drive up the price of wines from those regions (think: Napa, Tuscany, Burgundy, etc.). Keeping an eye out for wines from lesser established regions is one way to find better value. Personally, I find that the $20–$40 range is the sweet spot where you can find awesome, super-balanced wines that drink like $80 bottles. Of course, you can find good wines for around $15, too. It's all about familiarizing yourself with producers, importers, and wine stores that you trust to carry wines you enjoy. Give this exercise a try: The next time you order a delicious bottle of wine from a restaurant, do a little Google searching. Chances are, if that bottle cost you $50 or $60 at the restaurant, you can buy it for $25 or $30 in a wine store.
Chances are you've heard of the major wine varietals, like pinot noir, pinot grigio, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, etc. But did you know that there are thousands of grapes used to make wine? Rather than let that overwhelm you, let it excite you. This fact also speaks to my previous point, because oftentimes you're paying a premium for those popular varietals, like a bottle of Napa Valley cabernet. You can find great value bottles that taste amazing if you think outside the box. If you like crisp sauvignon blanc, try assyrtiko from Greece. Chardonnay lovers might enjoy timorasso, a deep and aromatic white wine from Italy. If you're a big pinot noir fan, give nerello mascalese a try. It's a similar light-bodied red from Sicily. Or there's Blaufränkisch from Austria. The moral of the story? Try new things! You might find a kind of wine you absolutely love that you'd never even heard of before.
Have you ever heard someone declare that they hate chardonnay, then turn around and order a glass of Chablis? Well, turns out that Chablis is just another name for chardonnay from the region of France called Chablis. Confusing, huh? This one took me quite some time to wrap my head around. In much of the old world (Europe), wines are often named after the region in which the grapes are grown. Other examples include Rioja (a Spanish blend of mostly tempranillo grapes), Sancerre (sauvignon blanc from the French appellation, or region, called Sancerre), and Chianti (a blend of mostly sangiovese from the region of Chianti, Italy). If, instead of a type of grape, you see a region or appellation on a wine bottle or wine list, just give it a quick Google search.
Champagne and sparkling wine are not interchangeable. Yes, all champagne is a type of sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is champagne. The difference is that champagne comes from grapes grown in the appellation of France called...you guessed it...Champagne! Sparkling wine that is produced in any other part of the world (or even in any other part of France) cannot be called champagne. And champagne often costs a premium just because of the name. Sparkling wine from the neighboring appellation, Burgundy, is called Crémant de Bourgogne. Sparkling wine from Italy could be called Franciacorta, prosecco, or Asti, depending on where it's made; in Spain it's called cava, in Portugal it's espumante, and in Germany it's called Sekt. So the bottom line: The next time you just want something bubbly but don't really care what it is, order the "sparkling wine."
There's a common misconception that all wine is meant to be bought and stored and consumed years down the line, once it has aged. But the truth is that most wines are meant to be enjoyed and consumed right away. Sure, it won't hurt to buy a wine and keep it for a year before drinking it, but the vast majority of wines cannot and should not age. If you've been gifted with or are splurging on a fancy, $100 full-bodied bottle like cabernet sauvignon, syrah, or nebbiolo, you could absolutely store that properly for a few years until the flavors become smoother and more mellow. But if you're picking up a casual bottle from your local wine store, it's meant to be enjoyed now!
Keeping this simple fact in mind really helped me understand what to expect when I order or buy a bottle of wine. As a rule, wines from cooler climates are more acidic (think: crisp, tart, zesty, or citrusy), and wines from warmer climates tend to be less acidic (think: ripe fruit flavors, juicy, fuller bodied, richer). The reason behind this is that warmer climates cause grapes to ripen faster, thereby creating higher sugar content and more alcohol in the final wine. By contrast, grapes ripen slower in cool climates, so the resulting wines are crisper and more acidic. A pinot noir from northern France is going to be way more acidic than a pinot noir from California. This is all just to say that you can decide what style of wine you like best (warm versus cool climate) and use this little trick to select the bottles you enjoy.
If you've ever watched the film Somm, you'll probably recall the scene where sommeliers are blind-tasting various wines and throwing out tasting notes like "tennis ball," "carrot tops," and "manure," and you probably found it a bit ridiculous. And even though most people don't have such refined palates, there is actually some truth to these tasting notes, and they are good clues into what region a wine is from. The big buzzword here is “terroir,” which basically refers to the geographical elements, environmental factors, soil, and climate of the wine region where the grapes are grown. Obviously, you don't need to be able to solve a blind tasting, but simply understanding that different regions produce different styles of wine will help you determine what you enjoy drinking. For example, if you like white wines from Galicia and northern Spain, you'll probably enjoy white wines from Columbia River Gorge in Washington state because the climate is similar.
This piggybacks off my previous point, but the type of soil in which the grapes were grown plays a huge part in a wine's flavor. I once went to a restaurant where I was served three little pours of white wine. The wine was the same varietal (sauvignon blanc) from the same wine region (the Loire Valley in France), but the wines all tasted completely different. Why? They were grown in three different types of soil. This blew my mind, but it helped illustrate just how important soil is in the winemaking process. Now, you're probably not going to go research the soil content of every wine region. But if there's a type of wine you really love, look into where it's grown. For example, if you're a huge fan of Sicilian red wines, it might be because those grapes are grown in the volcanic soils of Mount Etna, and the wines produced there tend to be crispy, floral, and aromatic. Once you know this, you can seek out red wines grown in similar soil, such as in the Willamette Valley or the Canary Islands.
Unfortunately, reading a wine label is not the most intuitive process. That's because based on where a wine is from, it might provide different information. But there are some helpful tips and tricks that will turn you into an expert. First of all, not all wine labels even display the name of the grape. If it's not overtly listed, you can usually determine the type of grape by looking at the region (or appellation) where a wine is from. We just talked all about wine regions, so just that information alone can tell you a ton about the wine. There are also other hints on the label that will help you determine the flavor and characteristics of a wine. For instance, look at the alcohol content, or ABV (alcohol by volume). A higher ABV, like 15%, will indicate that the wine is big, bold, robust, and full-bodied, whereas a lower ABV, like 12%, will be lighter and more delicate.
Some people put a lot of thought into pairing wine and food. Others are just straight-up confused by the notion. In any case, there's a simple phrase I heard that I always abide by: If it grows together, it goes together. A wine from any region will pair perfectly with herbs, produce, or ingredients that are traditionally grown and consumed there. Think about the foods that people traditionally eat in Tuscany: cured meats and pecorino (sheep's milk), Florentine steak, and pasta with hearty ragù. That's going to go perfectly with the sangiovese wine grown in the nearby vineyards. Or, on the coast of the Loire Valley, tangy muscadet is enjoyed with briny oysters fresh from the Atlantic. This is all just to say that if you're not sure what wine to drink with the meal you're eating, think about the ingredients and where they're grown and go from there.
Chances are you've probably heard the term "natural wine," as these wines are becoming increasing popular. Natural wines are wines made with minimal intervention (aka no chemicals, additives, sulfites, filtering, etc.). Essentially, natural wine is unadulterated, fermented grape juice as it was made in ancient times, and it often tastes a bit funky, effervescent, and super juicy. Natural wines are produced on a small scale by independent producers. Many of the buzzy terms you may hear these days, like glou-glou, pet-nat, and skin-contact wines, often fall under this natural-wine umbrella. Generally speaking, they're priced reasonably, and you can find a totally delicious natural wine for about $25.