Danno's Super-Quick Primer on Wine

My buddy Jim said he needs to get a quick Wine 101 from me. We're supposed to meet at a local win bar soon, but I'm a little skeptical about how much we can get done on such a monstrously complicated topic in a single evening.

I've gotten into wine lately because my wife and I drink a lot of wine, and I felt like I needed a new challenge after years spent sampling our local craft beer scene. I'm like a Level 15 beer snob but at best a Level 3 or 4 wine snob. So I'm drinking wine these days at least in part because I just got interested in it and realized that I didn't know quite as much as I thought that I did. 

Thankfully, wine is a fascinating topic overall.

Wine gets complicated -- mostly -- because it's marketed in different ways in different places. In America, we tend to buy and sell wine by type, i.e. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, etc. In Europe, though, they usually market wine by appellation of origin, i.e. where the wine was produced. Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Chianti, and so on. European wine makers often blend different varietals to achieve something like a consistent product over time based on local weather conditions. By contrast, American vineyards pretty much just produce whatever it says on the bottle because Americans are culturally dead-set on labeling everything and damn the consequences.

There seems little doubt that the European way is superior, but since I'm an American, I'm hardwired to wonder what I'm drinking long before wondering where it came from or, more precisely, who made it. With that in mind, I find the following chart to be extremely helpful.

Via WineFolly.Com

As you approach your latent interest in wine, it's worth considering what you like and don't like. Speaking personally, I'm still working through this very topic myself. Nevertheless, I can tell you that I tend to like light-to-medium wines a good bit more than full-bodied wines, and I prefer dry wines to sweet -- by a mile. So I tend to like Pinot Noir, Gamay (i.e. Beaujolais), and Pinot Grigio, and I usually steer clear of Chardonnay and especially Syrah, though either can be appealing when blended to a specific effect.

In terms of regions, I have an out-sized love of red wines from Bordeaux and white wines from Sancerre -- or really any Sauvignon Blanc from France's Loire Valley. I also like both Beaujolais and dry Rieslings from Germany, but Sally doesn't like either of those, unfortunately, so we don't have them as often as I'd perfer. Domestically, we seem to drink a lot of wine from Washington State. I suspect there any number of Washington State blends that we'd like, as well, but I've not found many out in the wild.

My list of wines to try right now includes Grenache, since it's supposed to pair well with spicy food, Rieslings from France (Alsace), and any of the "aromatic" wines above if we can find a vintage that's dry. I'd also really like to try a finely aged Cabernet Sauvignon... but not enough to pay $200 per bottle.