How to Become a Wine Connoisseur

Maybe you've moved into a new social circle, or maybe you took a cooking class. Maybe you just want to look smart and cultured, or maybe you've just realized you want to know all there is about wine. You've got the bug. Regardless of the reason, there are plenty of solutions. Here are ten different ways to either become a wine connoisseur or look like a wine connoisseur. Some are quicker and easier for those who just want to look good, and some are the real paths the pros take to become true wine experts.



1) For all cases -- the wanna-be and the true wine lovers. Get a subscription to Wine Spectator. If possible, also get a few months of back issues. Spend a night or an afternoon or whatever actually reading the magazine cover to cover. This is a great place to start, because it will expose you to all sorts of things and give you some basic starting points of reference. Keep reading Wine Spectator even if you follow through on the remaining nine suggestions.

2) Try one new wine a week. It needs to be well beyond your usual fare. For instance, if you've never tried a really good Chablis, pick that for a long dinner and savor it. Read up a bit about it before or after, or while you are drinking. Take a "first date" approach to each new wine of the week, and give it a real chance to charm you, even if you think you won't like it. You are expanding your wine experience, and while its nice to be able to sound good and be knowledgable about wine, what matters is the drinking, and your experience with each vintage.

3) Start attending wine tastings. If you can bare to be humble and ask questions and poosibly look a little dumb, you'll learn a lot more. Just be curious. There are some isolated wine snobs but most wine drinkers just love it, and will treat someone who is polite and curious and enthusiastic very nicely. You may also meet some new wine friends at these gatherings, and it is more fun to learn about wine with friends than it is to learn alone.

4) Travel to local wineries. You do not have to pack your suitcase yet, but a weekend trip might be nice. Visiting an actual winery will vastly expand your appreciation and knowledge about wine. You will start to talk about soil influences, late frosts, and the qualities of wood for aging. Also, the staff at wineries is only too delighted to talk your ear off about their wines. Just wait until you find something that you really, really, really love before you buy a case of it, or you will need a complete wine cellar before you know it.

5) Travel to California, or to Italy or France. These longer trips will probably introduce you to a region that has dozens or hundreds of wineries, and to higher quality wines and more varieties of wines. It is also classic connoisseur behavior to talk about your last trip to the wine country. You don't even have to know much or remember much, you'll still look like a seasoned oenophile.

6) Read books. There are thousands of books about wine, and about food and wine or travel and wine or even history and wine. Wine Spectator is just the cliff notes version. Pick a few modern classics, and only read what you actually enjoy. You don't even have to read the whole book -- just a few pages here and there will inform your palate.

7) Take a cooking class. A really good one. This will expose you to the art and science of flavors, and thus inform how you pair wine and food, and make you look like a culinary genius even if you only know the basics.

8) Take sommelier (wine steward) classes. This is for the fearless. You will be amongst the pros in these classes, but if you can make it through even a third of the coursework, you will then be able to talk like and talk with the pros, and make it sound like equal to equal.

9) Make friends with a sommelier (or three). This means visiting every wine store in your area and finding the most accessible, well-informed people. They can teach you volumes of tips and expose you to wonderful wines. Try to visit during slow times, and work your charm, and stay humble. You are learning from them, so your visits are not the time to try to sound like a know-it-all.

10) Join a wine group. A good gourmet group will do if you can't find something specific to wine. There's no better way to learn about wine and appreciate it than with other people who share your passion.