Now that we all have more time at home, we’ve possibly exhausted our queue of Netflix films; caught up on all our TV shows; cleaned out all our closets; read through the books on our nightstands; and played every board game in the house.
If you’re new to wine tasting (or just want to learn more, like we do!) why not embark on a short mission to expand your knowledge of wine, wine tasting and wine pairing? Here is an excellent opportunity to hone our knowledge of wine and expand our wine palates a bit. (A bit of day-drinking casually lounging in your backyard, wine book in hand perhaps? Doesn’t that sound lovely right about now?)
Remember there’s no shame in not knowing much about wine – you know you like to drink it, right? That’s the important part. Nobody likes a wine snob, anyway; and it’s ok to ask questions and admit when you don’t know a particular wine term or fact. We have a LOT to learn about wine still, and aren’t ashamed to admit that around here.
We’ve put together a little guide to essential wine books, followed by some wine education videos you might enjoy watching.
Start off by reading Paul Gregutt’s quick article on Wine for Beginners.
(Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you)
The 24-Hour Wine Expert is by highly respected wine critic Jancis Robinson. She’ll guide you through a quick foray into wine tasting, buying wine, food pairing, and then take you on a tour of various wine regions and the grapes they are known for.
Just published this week, How to Drink Wine presents the “easiest way to learn what you like.” Authors Grant Reynolds and Chris Stang guide you through wine and food pairings, introduce you to wine regions, share some of their favorite wine producers, and answer those pesky frequently asked questions about wine.
The Wine Simple book came out in 2019. It’s by sommelier Aldo Sohm, who presents an approachable guide to the fundamentals of wine.
Chapters include:
- What is Wine Anyway?
- How to Drink
- How to Evolve Your Palate
- Wine and Food
- Epilogue: A Lesson In Humility – Learning How to Make Wine
When you’re ready to take a deeper dive into wine, get yourself a copy of Wine Folly: The Master Guide, by Woodinville local Madeline Puckette. You’ll start with wine basics, learn about food and wine, and then explore the major wine producing regions of the world, in depth.
If you would rather learn from videos than books, we want to share a few favorites with you.
Watch some of Wine Folly’s excellent wine education videos, over on YouTube. Start with her Wine 101 series of seven videos.
Episode 1 What is Wine?
Next move on to Wine Spectator’s wine education videos, where you’ll learn about tannins, why it’s important to decant wine and how to do it properly, steps for the perfect winery visit, and how long you can keep leftover wine.
Next up, work your way through Grape Basics videos from Wine Enthusiast.
One of my favorite wine YouTubers is Whitney Adams. Here she is explaining how to read wine labels.
You might also like to check out to Food & Wine Magazine’s new online Wine School, via YouTube.
The Art of Manliness has a few wine education videos aimed at men.
If you can stand hearing the posh (slightly snobby sounding) accent, you might enjoy the grape variety masterclasses from The Wine Society.
You might next move onto the Wine Tasting 101 videos from Marc Supsic.
After watching so many videos, tasting wine in your home, reading some wine books, you’ll be ready to come out and enjoy wine tasting in Woodinville when everything re-opens! I dare say you’ll be very thirsty for some delicious Washington wine.
-Carrie
