When you're first starting to learn wine, it can be really confusing! I've developed a system that does a really good job of clearing up the confusion. A lot of wine classes start off teaching about France, and its very confusing labeling laws. If you really want to learn everthing about wine, it's true, you need to learn all that. But if you just want to be able to order things you'll like at a restaurant, I don't think you really need to burden yourself with all that information. If people knew what they liked and knew how to describe their tastes to someone else, they should be able to enjoy what they get. Sounds simple right? The problem is that there's a lot going on inside a wine glass, and combine that with the fact that a lot of people have their vocabulary mixed up and backwards sometimes, it can be really hard to put into words what you liked about a wine so us professionals can understand you.

To help simplify this whole thing, I like to group wines into three different qualities-- fruit, earth, and spice. Every wine basically has some of each quality, and if you can start to identify these flavors in what you try, you can begin to develop a sense of which quality you like more of. Some wines will be very fruity, with just a touch of earth and hardly any spice. You might find that you love that style, and then the next time you're in a wine store or a restaurant, you can ask for something fruity, and the person you're talking to will definitely know what you're talking about.

Now of course these three categories are just a starting point and wine does get a lot more complicated than that. There are other qualities in wines that are important, like body, tannin, acidity, and sweetness/dryness. But for now let's just focus on defining these three categories. The lessons that follow will talk about each of these qualities, and I'll tell you about some wines that exhibit the qualities, so you can follow along at home with the wines if you like.

Happy tasting!