How to Pick a Wine You’ll Like
As wine enthusiast Morgan Joseph shares in I’d Rather Be on a Vineyard, an episode from the I’d Rather Be podcast, there are two things that will happen when you take a new bottle of wine home from the store: either you’ll like it, or, you’ll learn from it.
You don’t need to know a ton about wine to have a wine-tasting adventure. But these “three Vs” are helpful to keep in mind:
Viticulture: the practice of growing grapevines. Anyone who runs a vineyard is practicing viticulture.
Varietal: the specific kind of grape used in a bottle of wine, so more specific than “red or white.” Some bottles contain just a single varietal, like Chardonnay, and other bottles contain a blend of varietals, like a red blend might contain both Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes.
Vintage: the year the grapes were harvested for a specific bottle of wine. Vintages vary slightly from year to year, since weather patterns can affect the taste of the grapes.
Here are Morgan’s tips for picking a wine you haven’t tried before.
Step 1: Choose your store
Wine can be sold at big box stores like Total Wine or Binny’s, at grocery stores, and at more curated local wine shops. The big box stores will offer variety, while the smaller, locally owned shops will likely have a selection that was very intentionally chosen by the owner. So, if you’re interested in the breadth of wines available from around the world, a store like Total Wine is a great place to go. But, Morgan believes that the highest expression of certain regions — the most authentic and interesting bottles — are more likely to be found in the local stores. So, if you happen to know that you like wine from a specific country or growing region, it might be worth going to a local store and asking whether they have a wide selection from that region.
Step 2: Look up the region and varietal of your favorite wine
If there’s a specific bottle of wine you find yourself buying over and over again, look up where it was produced and what kinds of grapes - the varietal - used to make it. Chances are, you’ll enjoy other labels from that same region, so you can experiment with more or less expensive wines and see how they compare to the wine you like. Wine stores are almost always organized by region, so this information is key in navigating around a new store. You can also tell an employee at the wine store which region and varietal you’ve liked in the past, and they will be able to point you in the direction of something similar in another region.
Step 3: Talk to a wine store employee
It can be intimidating asking questions about wine, but most people who work in wine shops are excited to offer suggestions, and you can be very explicit about the price range you want to stay within so they don’t offer you suggestions outside that range. It helps to tell them which wines you’ve enjoyed in the past, but you could also start with the flavor profiles you like — sweet vs dry, or crisp vs smooth. When I tried this, following Morgan’s advice, I walked out of the store with one wine that I knew would be similar to another I already liked, as well as a bottle that would be completely different, based on the store employee’s advice.
Step 4: Open the bottle(s) and notice what you see, smell, and taste
The more wines you drink, the more you’ll notice subtle differences in their look, smell, and taste, and this is where you can begin to specialize your own palate and decide what you like and why, and what you don’t like and why. Here are Morgan’s tips for tasting a new wine for the first time:
Look
What is the specific color? If it’s red, what is the shade of red?
Are the edges against the glass clear?
Are there particles in the glass?
Smell
After swirling the wine in the glass a couple times, start with, what are the first smells that come to mind?
Smell for these common aromas: fruity, woody, pungent, floral, spicy, nutty, chemical
Taste
Be as specific as possible - How does the wine feel on your palette? Heavy or light?
Is it acidic - do you get a lot of saliva in your mouth afterwards?
Is it tannic - does your mouth feel dry?
Does it taste bitter at the end?
If there are fruity tastes, would you describe them as fresh, stewed, cooked, or something else?
Morgan suggests trying at least two wines next to each other so that you are able to compare different flavor profiles at the same time. And if you take notes, you’ll gradually begin to notice that you have your own preferred flavor profile - and even more valuable - a flavor profile of wine you don’t like. And not liking a wine doesn’t mean the wine is bad, it’s just that something about that specific grape varietal or the way the bottle was produced that isn’t something you like.
Happy wine tasting!
