Steps to Becoming a Wine Connoisseur

If you have never met one of those famous expert wine connoisseurs, you should thank your stars. They can make you feel positively pedestrian on matters wine. It’s not just the way they ‘taste’ wine – with a tilt of the head and swirling sound in the mouth like it’s something you need to go to wine school to even begin comprehending. It’s not even how they expound on the distinct, yet subtle, taste of each wine.

It’s the thought that there is no way on this side of eternity you could ever get to be anything like that.

Relax. Becoming a wine connoisseur is not difficult or complicated. Just takes some focus and determination.  In fact, it is possible to be an expert in wines in less than a year. For instance, to become a wine expert accredited by the Court of Masters – one of the top wine accreditation programs in the US – all you need to do is pass a series of tests. They don’t care for schools or anything like that.

So how do you become a wine connoisseur? There are three steps to getting there. First is knowing the basics. Second is what you can, and should, learn all by yourself. And then there is what you need help with.

The Basics of Wine

The first basic point about wines is that it is an acquired taste. Even the most celebrated wine connoisseurs began with ‘normal wines’ and worked their way up the ladder. So, your first step will be to start with whatever wine tastes right for you, no matter how ‘normal’ it is.

Second is that, in spite of wine being an acquired taste, broad types of wines – white or red – are matched with specific types of meals, pegged on the type of meat.  Red wine goes with red meat, white wine with white meats. Beyond that, creativity in choice is acceptable.  For instance, the precise white or red wine that you choose to go with any of MagicKitchen.com’s main courses is entirely up to you.

Finally, there is tasting wine versus drinking wine. You ‘taste’ by swishing it in your mouth, not by actually drinking it.

What to Do On Your Own To Become a Wine Connoisseur

There are things that you have to do on your own before you can become a wine connoisseur. The most important are:

• After getting used to a favorite wine, however modest it may be, the next step is to sample as many different types of wines as possible. That is how you soon get to discover that you can, in fact, detect the different flavors.

• Research. Browse the internet, read up wine guides and blogs. Subscribe to wine websites or newsletters – or a wine magazine. Check out wine stores for bottles of wine with write-ups near them, award citations and high magazine ratings. That’s how to get familiar with the types and terminologies of the craft. For instance, a glance at the how to guide on matching food to wine at bbcgoodfood.com will show you that Cabernet Sauvignon is the perfect wine for beef roasts  and stews, such as MagicKitchen.com’s famous main course of beef sirloin with peppercorn sauce. And that if you don’t want to stick to a quality white wine, like Chardonnay, you can try a red wine, like a Merlot, with a chicken meal.

• Test your knowledge and expertise in wine. You can do that by buying wines that match the taste of the food you’re serving. Or by deliberately trying wines from different countries. Or visiting choice restaurants just to sample different wines.

How to get other people to make you a wine connoisseur

To really become a wine connoisseur, your own research is not enough. You need to pick other people’s brains too, particularly those who know their stuff well. Some tips:

• Talk to staff in wine shops and ask for recommendations and tips. Shop attendants are often very well informed.

• Attend wine tasting events. There are usually such events every so often in local wine schools, restaurants and wineries.

• Visit a winery and let the staff take you through the wine making process. Few sources are typically as informed about wine as winemakers. Freely ask whatever question comes to mind – they have already heard every ‘ignorant’ question you could possibly come up with.

• If you have the time, make it all simple by attending a wine school. There is no faster way to learn about wine than that.