How-To: Develop a Taste for Wine

We realize there is a whole group of people out there who don't like wine--even though they really  want to. Maybe entertaining clients seems to always involve wine. Maybe friends are planning a tour of wine country. Maybe a glass of wine to toast a special occasion sounds perfect. Maybe it just seems fun. They say the grass is always greener; in this case, it truly IS pretty green over here. So, what can you do if you really don't like wine, but wish you did?

1. Recognize it's an acquired taste, just like vegetables.
2. Wine is complex and big: if your entire conclusion that you don't like wine is based on a small number you've tried, well, that's like cutting vegetables out of your diet because you didn't like the few you tried, as well. We're confident there is something for everyone.
3. Start with sweet wines. We hear that people new to wine prefer sweeter wines.
4. Try fruity wines: people often mistake fruity for sweet. For a new wine drinker, this goes hand-in-hand with the last fact.
5. Try light-bodied white wines. The flavors won't linger too long, or overwhelm your tastebuds.
6. Ask for wines that are "drinkable." This will indicate to the waiter or salesperson that you want something that "goes down easy."
7. Finally, avoid big reds. Tannins (from the wine barrels and grape skins) can overpower the tongue. The tannins are what produce the burning and scratchy feeling in the mouth. This can be unpleasant to someone new to wine.

Ultimately, it's about experimenting and trying new things. In our mind, the worst thing a wine drinker could do is limit him or herself to the one bottle they've found that they like. How can you discover the next best thing if you always stick to what you know?

Good luck!