Wine for beginners: tell me your best wine facts/rules!

[AmandaPleaseDotCom]

DH and I were given a tour of a vineyard as a present and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

I like wine, but we never splash out on it and I stick to my favourites. I'd like to be more adventurous and start trying new ones but what do I need to know to get on my way to being a wine person?

Wine snobs more than welcome to comment, as is anyone with a cheap and cheerful fave!

Drink what you like is my top tip! Try new things every now and then. Look at pairing wine with foods to get an idea of what works - e.g. Asian foods with Viognier, duck with Pinot Noir, etc. We sometimes do blind tastings at home, e.g. a cheap Rioja and a more expensive one and see what we prefer.

Below is 100% personal preference but I have put a lot of years of dedicated research in!

Old world (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal) - Yes
New world (the americas, Australia, New Zealand)- No. Apart from Margaret River Aussie reds and NZ Sauvignon blanc.
Some German OK. Hungarian, other Eastern Europe- No

Red- avoid anything "fruity, jammy, plummy, soft"
White- avoid anything other than as dry as possible. Same with rose.
Rose- only very very cold Provençal or pinot Grigio blush.

Prosecco- No. Champagne yes but a nice Cava is just as nice. Cremont ok. Dry rules as above apply (look for "brut")

Sainburys has a decent wine selection and you can get a decent bottle for £7.50 or a nice one for £9. M&S wine selection crap.

Pair it with food rather than guzzling it like a beverage. It takes time to develop a palate but start with where the food is from, choose wine from the same region.

Never buy from a wine list organized by price rather than characteristics.

That advice about choosing the driest wine possible sounds very American or British. Good luck OP.

That's interesting. I am British but have lived abroad. Do other nationalities have different tastes? Where are you from?

I'm almost the opposite of this. Prefer new worlds. In my opinion french wine is only good at the very top end. Agree about soft or jammy reds, they are awful. So you see op everyone will have a different opinion. Try plenty and enjoy the research.

Also I love Mateus Rose but drink it like pop.

When you say you have your favs, do you mean fav brands rather than fav grapes/regions?

If so, try to pick something with the same/same mix of grapes as your fav branded one, but a few price points up. See if you like and appreciate the difference! Maybe also same grape, but from a totally different region.

French, Spanish, and Italian wine is always pretty reliable imo. Things like Eastern European wines - cheap ones will likely be terrible, pricey ones probably really good!

Natural wines is Advanced Mode. I really like them but they can be quite challenging!

Naked wines was a very good place to start for me. Good value and lots of great reviews on each wine.

Gosh - I am the polar opposite on so much of this! Just goes to show that there's no "wrong", it's just personal preference.

Prosecco- No. Champagne yes but a nice Cava is just as nice. Cremont ok. Dry rules as above apply (look for "brut")

It's Crémant and it is often far superior to champagne as you are not paying inflated prices for the appellation as you do with the big champagne houses. However, it is made of the same grapes grown in a similar region to champagne.

Aldi have a great selection of wines at a reasonable price so just pick some and try! They helpfully label the wines 1-5 in terms of how dry/ west they are (white) or how light/ full bodied (red).

Everyone's taste is different so just experiment! Do your local wine shops hold tasting events? Those are good for trying out different things - and made me realise I actually like a decent Chardonnay because it's nothing like the vile pub Chardonnay I used to drink in the 90s!

Personally I only like dry whites and reds that aren't sweet/ jammy.

Hate Prosecco but like cremant and cava.

Happy tasting!

I clearly remember my DM telling me when I was only young that you can get away with a cheap red but never a cheap white, I usually follow her rule.

Totally agree about avoiding ’jammy’ sweet reds but don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things.

I have a wide range of favourites but love a NZ Sauvignon Blanc 😂

@AmandaPleaseDotCom Which vineyard did you tour? Was it in the UK? I have French blood, but am really getting into UK wine, with Old World wines still preferred. I like Chile and Argentina also.

A vintner told me recently that there is something like 1,000 registered vineyards in the UK (it might be more). Apparently, all one needs to do is plant a vine from which one intends to produce wine and it qualifies. A client has a UK vineyard, quite extensive, in a beautiful location. If it were publicly known it would appear on calendars alongside the normal UK photo shoots. But they only grow grapes which are harvested and collected by other UK wine producers. They do not make wine there. You will heard of those makers. The grape producers tend to have larger acreage than those that make wine.

I am not going to bash the drum for British wine above most other wines. But I am going to say there is some great British wine out there and I only wish the major supermarkets would stock it more. I would buy more. Some major retailers only sell British sparkling wine (shame on them). A lot of British wine is on a journey to betterment, and this is no criticism of UK producers. They are pioneers and I love what they do. Some have lost their livelihoods and savings while working hard and persevering. Experimentation, climate change, age and detritus will help - not to mention experience. We are limited on grape varieties now also. My favourite British wine is from a small family run vineyard in Cornwall. There is one white wine they make which stands proud whether on a picnic blanket, on the dinner table, or watching the sun go down.

Otherwise, I make my wine experience complete by research. If there is a wine I like, I cross reference the label to the vineyard by using both Google Earth and a hard copy of The Times Wine Atlas. Then I go to the website of the producer. With these resources, I can learn about the wine and see the few small acres from where my wine came. It could be as little a space as equal to a small village football field, adjacent to a railway line, next to a town. My knowledge of Geography increases too! It is incredible to open a bottle, taste it and understand it. Try doing it this way - it is quite an experience.

Everyone has different tastes so this is really for you to try and find out what you actually like.

Personally I like dry whites, but also a chardonnay now and again. They all vary of course depending on where they come from. A French chardonnay is quite different to a Californian chardonnay.

If we're havng reds I avoid those which are too heavy - I find Australian/chilean reds a bit too much - (they are also often more alcoholic ).

Fizz - I'm a champagne girl . Cremant is also right up there after spending time in Burgundy - the Cremant de Bourgogne is really very close second (and much cheaper. Prosecco can get in the bin - I won't drink it. Always gives me headache.

Do you have a wine shop in your town? We have a Majestic handily located near to my husband's office :) they do regular wine tastings so that's a good way to get a little knowledge, and buy something you know you will enjoy. There are also independent wine shops which offer similar experiences.

Just keep on buying and trying. Don't just base your choices on price - although if you go too cheap you might be wasting your money.

I'm dying for a glass now!!!

My best wine discoveries, and learning about it have been by doing matched wines at a restaurant or just asking what they would put with the dish if its a naice restaurant and they'll tell you about the wine. Or find a proper independent wine shop and go and ask for help. We've had amazing wine from ours that we would have never chosen, but give the fab staff an idea of what you do and don't like (and it can be as simple as I don't like sweet or flowery white but some give me heart burn) and they'll suggest things in your budget. If you are near Cheltenham, Tivoli wines is incredible and they are so nice too

prosecco is made in a giant vat and is generally pretty awful imo, cremant is much better. I love a NZ sav, oaky Chardonnay and a heavy red. Also consider the price if the wine: the bottle, label, transport, duty all have to be paid for so in a £5 bottle of wine very little of that £5 is spent on the wine.

@Fescue We went to Aldwick Estate in Somerset 😀

These tips are great, thanks all. I do actually seem to be drawn to dry, fruity reds though so perhaps il never be the sophisticated wine drinking type 😂 I've also just remembered that we have a wine bar in our town!!

If red dye is added to white wine even professionals will say they can smell and taste totally different flavors