Getting Started

Learning to taste wine is no different than learning to really appreciate music or art—the pleasure you receive is proportionate to the effort you make.

Evaluating Wine

How to judge a glass of wine by sight, smell and taste.

Glassware and Serving Basics

Insisting on a good glass is not snobbery; it’s common sense.

Varietal versus Appellation Labeling

Throughout Europe, wines are classified by vineyard, village and/or region where they are made. This appellation system is based on precisely defined wine regions, some as small as a single vineyard.

White Wine Grapes

Red Wine Grapes

France

The style of French wine echoes that of the French themselves—elegant, well-dressed, showing an appreciation for the good things of life but never to excess.

Italy

Italian tradition is so closely grafted to the vine that the good cheer and easy attitudes associated with wine culture are mirrored in the nation’s temperament.

Germany

German wine labels can be intimidating: long foreign words and ornate gothic script are enough to make many consumers head for a different section of the wine shop.

Approaches and Guidelines

Each season offers some opportunity, great or small, for the worlds of food and wine to do a graceful pas de deux.

Why Collect

Developing a strategy for acquiring wine is both fun and rewarding.

Figuring Out What You Like

It doesn’t make much sense to have a cellar full of wine you don’t like.

Making the Purchase

Once you’ve decided what wine you like, you need to buy more of it.