The Wine Fact Center

Choosing wine is what we’ll be looking at in this part of our wine 101 guide…

Choosing wine when there are such a multitude of bottles to pick from is no easy task. So, how do you go about making the right choice? Knowing generally what you like is, as with all purchases, the first thing to establish. It won’t matter if a wine shop owner finds you the best Chardonnay on the market if you really like Merlots. Therefore, you need to try out the various different wine types (Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Nebbiolos, etc.) to see which are best suited to you.

On deciding which variety of wine you prefer, you’ll have made your wine buying trip significantly more straight-forward. Pay a visit to your local wine merchant and ask to be shown the section containing the variety of wine that you decided upon. Check out the blurbs on the wine racks. Discard the “winery notes” supplied by the winemaker (these tend to be marketing material) and instead focus on the handwritten notes provided by the owner (who will be honest as their reputation depends on it).

Ask an employee of the store to assist you if there’s one available. Explain your wine preferences to them. Don’t be afraid to be specific about your likes and dislikes. The more you tell them the better their wine recommendations for you will be. It’s quite possible that they’ll even offer you some samples to try out.

Take down the details of any recommendations that you don’t purchase, or of any other wines that take your interest. You can then look out for them the next time you dine out or do some internet research on them.

Finally, keep in mind that there is no such thing as a universally perfect wine. It has everything to do with what pleases you. No wine reviewer or shop owner is going to have your exact taste in wine. There’s no guarantee that you’ll like a particular wine even if everyone else seems to love it. Similarly, you may likes wines that no-one else seems to like.