7 ways to be a better wine lover (it’s OK - we’re all different!)

One size wine lover does not fit all. There isn’t one mould to make a wine lover - we are all different and that’s a good thing. A very good thing.

If you’re wondering whether or not you can be a wine lover - because you don’t really look like one - I have a secret. Wine lovers don’t all look the same. Shh! We don’t all wear red trousers (though some of us do, and that’s FINE...) and, on the other end of the spectrum, we don’t all look like supermodels posing with wine bottles. Whatever type of wine lover you are, wherever you see yourself of the spectrum, it’s all good. Your opinion is valid. Whatever you are wearing, whatever you sound like. 

What if you don’t know your Bordeaux from your Burgundy and that your favourite wine is from a box? So what! You can still be a wine lover if you love that wine! The golden ticket is to find out why you like it, so that you can communicate about it and thus learn to speak the language of wine. When you can do this, you will always find what you want in a shop, bar or restaurant, instead of blindly making choices based on price or label design (OK, we’ve all done that at least once in our lives, don’t worry). Knowing how to describe something will open doorways to new wines that you’ll enjoy and it will also help you feel more confident when you’re talking about wine because you’ll be able to back up your choices with solid knowledge.

So, how do you know if you are a wine lover?

You, erm, love wine. Next.

What if you don’t call yourself a wine lover because you don’t know much about wine?

If you don’t know anything about “fine wine”, I wouldn’t worry - most wine people don’t know much about “fine wine” and I’d include myself in that. I’m more interested in learning about the wines that are accessible to most of us. Wine snobbery has never been great for the wine industry - it locks people out of the wine world for the entirety of their lives. I thought the point was to get people drinking wine, not intimidating or annoying them so much that they decide not to bother!

On more than one occasion friends, family and strangers have seemed a little embarrassed to tell me what kind of wine they like to drink. They often preface the sentence with, ‘I don’t know ANYTHING about wine.’ But even if Lambrini is your jam, it really doesn’t matter! What good wine education should do is help you understand what it is you like about it and arm you with the knowledge to become an informed consumer. 

Which leads me to the first way to become a better wine lover...

1. Taste Taste Taste

First of all, you’ve got to know what you like and what you don’t like. Only tasting lots of different wines will help you do this. If that sounds pretty expensive, you can do it in a budget-friendly way by buying a selection of mini bottles of wines from a supermarket. Grab a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot and a Malbec, and then for whites, a Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chenin Blanc. Write down and discuss the differences with somebody else - if you don’t gain anything else from this, at least you’ll have a great time. PARRR-DY! If you find yourself having trouble with your words, even before you drink them all, see the second way to become a better wine lover...

2. Learn the vocabulary 

OK, there’s no such thing as “wine-speak”, but there are definitely words used in the winesphere that will help you describe exactly what you mean, which other people in the winesphere will understand. 

First of all, you can describe the wine as dry, medium or sweet. Or a mixture of all three: “Medium-dry/medium-sweet”, but never dry-sweet. It might exist, but I don’t think it’s ever been done before. Obviously, these words relate to the sweetness level of a wine. Most wines (unless specified) on the shop shelves or on a wine list will be dry. Dessert wines are sweet (and they are sweeeeeet).

“Acidity” is a great wine word. When people say that a wine has acidity, it’s usually a good thing. Acidity is the “backbone” of a wine (there you go, “backbone” - another wine word) and it is needed to balance a wine (stick “balance” in your vocab book too). The word “acidic” is different - this usually has negative connotations and describes a wine being sharp and unpleasant (it’s probably “unbalanced”).

There are some unbelievably winey words out there and you can have fun using them. “Minerality” refers to when a wine tastes of stones or pebbles - again, this is usually a good thing. Descriptors like “earthy”, “forest floor” and “jammy” will often earn you a raised eyebrow of approval, as if it has been recognised that you know what you’re talking about.

The best thing is - what you say about a wine is your opinion, so it can’t be wrong. If you say the wine has “minerality”, then it might well do, and you’ll have people scrambling around their palate just to find it there. That is not to say tasting notes are a con - of course there are aspects of a wine that will give a common experience and will taste similar to many people. But, they are still your tastebuds, so say whatever you like!

3. Hold wine tasting nights with friends

What’s more fun than having a few friends round for a juicy catch up? Having a few friends round for a juicy catch up WITH WINE. That might sound like a standard evening to you, but add in a theme for the wine (like ‘French wine’ or ‘Sauvignon Blanc’) and you’ve got yourself the bones of a compare-and-contrast tasting. Everyone brings a different bottle within the theme and away you go.

Just talking about the different wines and sharing tasting notes with your friends will help to build your wine knowledge and bolster your confidence when talking about wine.

4. Go to a wine tasting night hosted by an expert 

If you’re sitting around with your friends at your home wine tasting wondering why you can detect vanilla (and if they put vanilla into the wine?), this is where a wine expert comes in handy. Wine tasting events are always great nights out regardless, but when they are hosted by a specialist, you learn so much more. That person is literally your walking wine encyclopaedia for the evening, there to answer any question, big or small. 

Wine tasting events are a fantastic resource to learn about an unfamiliar region or grape, whatever level you are at - and hearing the expert describe the wine will improve your tasting notes to no end.

5. Engage with wine people on social media 

There is a wine education resource right at your fingertips - Instagram! (Or Twitter, or Facebook, or your social media platform of choice.) There are Masters of Wine on there, esteemed wine journalists, but, most useful of all, there are people just like you, who are into wine.

Peer-to-peer learning is actually one of the most effective ways of gaining knowledge - friends learning from friends. And when you become part of an online community with a shared interest, a great side effect is that you do make friends.

But, what about if you really don’t know anything about wine - is it like being the new kid at school with nobody to sit next to in the canteen? It might feel like that at first, but just start looking around, see what people are posting about and start engaging. Join conversations, like photos. Start posting about what you’re drinking and don’t be afraid to ask questions. ‘Has anyone tried this before? Is it any good?’ ‘Which wine pairs well with this dish?’ It might feel like you’re speaking out into the ether at first, but keep going - the more you give, the more you’ll get. Before you know it, you’ll be part of the online wine community, which is a fabulous source of knowledge.

6. Do a wine course 

Whether you’re a complete novice or you’re the wine expert amongst your friends, there is always a wine course that will teach you more than you already know. Some courses are just half a day long and require no prior learning and some courses are months, even years long, for which you’ll need certain qualifications to begin with.

I started my wine education with the WSET 1, which was a day-long course and provided me with all the foundations I needed to be a better wine lover straight away. Immediately it opened up the kingdom of wine to me and I understood and appreciated wine on a whole new level. You know what they say - the more you know about a piece of art, the more you enjoy looking at it.

Have a Google on what courses are out there today - some you won’t even have to leave your house for and you can access virtually!

7. Visit vineyards 

Visiting vineyards whilst you’re on holiday is an incredible way to learn about wine first hand and become a better wine lover. You don’t even have to travel far to find one - there are over 500 vineyards in the UK, so you’re probably closer to one than you think. As well as there being nothing more romantic than drinking a glass of wine next to the very vines it came from, paying for a vineyard tour and buying some wine is a brilliant way to support the local economy - plus, you’ll get some stunning photo ops for your Instagram page! Win, win, win. But most importantly, seeing where the wine comes from, how its made and who makes it will help you appreciate wine in a way that you never have before.

If all else fails, buy a pair of red trousers, swirl your glass in the air and look at it quizzically. I’ve seen it work for many people at trade wine tastings and if they can get away with it then so can you.