Wine education - Lesson 1

There are a lot of ways to learn how to appreciate wine drinking more, but there is one lesson that stands above all others, and that is to keep on tasting different wines.  I could have you read books, attend courses, read wine reviews and participate in a number of other activities, but there is no better means to learning about wine than by trying a number of different wines.

I have a lot of author friends and they sometimes get distracted focusing on marketing, social media, taking classes on creative writing and participating in a number of other activities that seem like writing, but are not really writing.  They have to keep reminding themselves that there is no other activity that makes you a writer than to just sit down and actually write!

Therefore, wine education Lesson 1 is to taste a variety of different wines and understand what you like and what you don't.  And Lesson 2 will be on the difference between tasting and drinking.  I want you to taste wine, not just drink it.  That would be an incredible waste.

Having said that and gotten Lesson 1 out of the way, there are a variety of different things that comprise a simple wine education that should increase your pleasure of drinking wine.  These include:

• Reading a variety of different books on wine
• Attending tastings with other people and sharing your tasting experiences
• Trying different wines with different foods, including different wines with cheese and chocolate
• Writing down tasting notes
• Participating in vertical and horizontal wine tastings
• Attending some specialty sessions on glassware, decanters and other wine paraphernalia
• Learning a bit about how to make wine
• Experiencing and thinking about what wine does to your senses

I have written over 125 blog posts in the last year and plan to write plenty more.  Many of my posts have been about reviewing specific wines, matching wine with food, and enjoying the wine lifestyle more.  Some have been educational.  Therefore, I am not going to label any of my future posts as 'educational.'  many will be, but hopefully many of those already written have been also.

The key thing is that with a little more understanding of wine, you are likely to enjoy tasting and drinking wine a lot more.  And it makes it easier to share the experience and talk about it with others who enjoy drinking wine also.  I have certainly found that to be the case for me and many of my friends.  Let's learn a bit more together.


Steve Shipley

Twitter: @shipleyaust
My other blog (on business, tech, world issues):  Steve Shouts Out!