How Do I Choose the Right Wine for Me?

Thanks for your emails! I love to hear that people are
drinking wine and wanting to broaden their horizons. The
most frequently asked question out there seems to be “how do
I choose the right wine when there are so many choices?”
The best advice I can give when choosing a bottle of wine is
to ask for advice. Whether you’re buying wine at the grocery
store, liquor store, fine wine shop or in a restaurant… ask
for help.
Grocery stores without resident professionals will usually
provide “shelf talkers”- small cards that give flavor
profiles, food pairing suggestions or at the very least,
ratings from reputable wine periodicals. Many wineries will
print this kind of information right on the back label of
the wine bottle. Liquor stores and fine wine establishments
will probably have the shelf talkers and many will have a
resident wine professional. These people taste wine on a
regular basis and can be a big help. Restaurants may have a
Sommelier or provide training seminars for the service staff
on wine through their suppliers.
When you are speaking with someone about your wine choice,
give them as much help as you can. Hopefully, they will ask
you the right questions. These are the things I would ask
someone in order to help them make a good selection.
1. How much would you like to spend? There is a lot of
wine out there in lots of different price points.
2. What will you be having with your wine? Is the wine
going to be the focus or will you be enjoying it as part of
a meal?
3. What wines have you enjoyed in the past?
These three simple things can help you make a
good selection.

Bottom Line
Be adventurous. There are so many great wines
out there to try. You’d better get started now.

My first Women's Wine Workshop was a huge success. Thank you to all that attended. I hope that you enjoyed yourselves, and learned something. The sparklers that we sampled were: Mionetto Il Prosecco, Cristalino, Leatilia Estate Brut, Scharffenberger Brut, J Brut Rose, Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee and Sofia. My next workshop will be held on June 13th, 2005 at Oakleys Bistro. Mark your calanders and click here for more info or to sign up! Check out the photo of the first workshop attendees below-thanks ladies! Many, many thanks to Wendy Gallogly of National Wine & Spirits for being our guest speaker, and bubbles diva!


L. Cunningham
A Woman on Wine