You are going out to dinner and the evening is going to be a fantastic night of lively chat and interesting people . You get there and get some drinks chat and generally socialise in the company of like mined people . You order your food and then the waiter appears with the wine list . He offers it to the person who book the table and invited you along and they take it and looks at you and says the most dreaded words that you can hear .
"You chose the wine."
All eyes are now on you and you have the choice refuse and you look like you do not want to , you might not know what you are doing . Chose and you might look like you might not know what you are doing . Chose the cheapest or the most expensive and it looks like you are just spending some one else's money. Chose the cheapest and it looks like you are just being mean . If he had wanted the house wine he could have order it . Then who had fish , chicken , game and steak . The whole thing is a mine field waiting to go of and you are in the middle of it all and one wrong move and it all will go up. What should you do .

The best thing to do is if you are not sure ask people what they like and go from there . I like red wine with almost every thing . Now I know that you are not supposed to but I do and hang what every one thinks . But normally you will not go far wrong with a good middle of the road white wine. Some thing that you would recognise in your local store . A lot of blended wine now is perfect for this. Most new world wine, in fact that I am a big fan of , do not have the hang up of region and country. Not tied but the convention or law of production they are full of flavour and depth .but how do you know what is what and good from bad

First there is no bad wine , apart from the stuff that has gone bad . I do like dry wine and not sweet . But I do like wine that is complex in flavour so I do not mind the odd glass of sweet now and then . But how did I get to know this . Well working in restaurants and liking a good old glass of wine has been a good help . But if you was to ask me how to get a idea I would give the following advise.

The first thing you should get is a good book . Or watch a few television programs or videos. This is the best thing to get you a grounding in any thing , let alone wine. After reading and under standing a few of the terms .the get to reading a few labels. See if what you have read stick in your mind and makes sense to you. Wine shops and supermarkets are grate places for you to have a look and pick up the odd bottle and have a good old read of the labels .

The second thing that you must do is drink some wine . You will not know what you like and get to know the difference between one and another till you actually drink some wine .Nothing to expensive to start with just the few bottles that will give you the beginning of a tasting pallet. Get to drink a dry next to a sweet wine . Hold them up to the light and do slurp them . Yes you must suck a load of air threw the win while it is in your mouth to get the full flavour of it .

And thirdly you must enjoy it . Find a club or some like minded people who would like to start a wine club . Get a few bottles and make it a social event and see how much more you can get out of it . Soon you will know your Bordeaux fome your burgundy , your Mosel-Saar-Ruwer from Rhein hessen, Chianti from Barolo and your Napa valley will be your happy valley.

Learn more about this author, Marcus Bentley Wise.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Tips for learning about wine?
We want to hear your view. Write now!