Wine Folly! They have good articles online and posts on social media. If you have a wine bar in your area, hang out and talk to the server or somm. Wine shouldn’t be pretentious or wasted money. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and keep tasting until you find what you like.

Wine Folly was a great resource to learn from when I first got interested in wine, they make info super accessible and there is a lot to learn from them. I’d also suggest that it would be worth checking out Sherry - styles like Amontillado, Oloroso, Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel all have flavor profiles that might be more interesting to you as rum aficionados and there is a ton of top tier Sherry for under $30 so you don’t have to break the bank to drink some great examples. Same goes for Marsala and Madeira but those can be more expensive for benchmark bottles.

Nothing has taught me more about wine than this subreddit

Wine for Normal People is an enjoyable podcast.

YouTube, honestly. I find V Is For Vino to be really accessible and he has some great shorter videos about the nuances of wine. Here's his twelve minute video on how to taste wine.

https://youtu.be/UV6XhubaZew?si=txVz4k7ImRtjwU6v 

I also find Wine Folly to be great for beginners and Madeleine is very unpretentious and fun. 

Wine with jimmy yt channel is basically a free WSET 2 course

You work in a wine shop? Why don’t you ask to see if your employer would cover the education?

Get your employer to buy you a Wine Folly Magnum book or at least work through all of their free content online and through their YouTube content. That will get you set up with major grapes, regional styles and what’s important. Without that, pick a label every day from your store’s stock and look it up online. Keep notes about what you read and ask your customers what they like about the wines they buy. That will help in a world where you can’t purchase the wines yourself. Which does seem insane.

It really depends on where you go, but there are a few common patterns:

- The winery has a single, fixed tasting list in a fixed order. (Common at big wineries.)
- The winery has a few fixed tasting options, and you pick one.
- The winery has a list of wines and you can pick what you want -- usually up to a fixed number of pours. (Common at small wineries.)

In the case where you get anxious about options, you should absolutely just talk to the staff. In a winery where it's an open menu like that, they're used to it. Say what you've liked before and what you're up for trying, and they'll hook you up. If you're traveling for this and it's difficult to make another trip out, I recommend looking into the winery ahead of time for sure.

I'm in Woodinville (120+ tasting rooms within 15 minutes), and a bad tasting experience is pretty rare, but it does happen. Drink water, keep an open mind, have a good time.

Worked in wineries for a long time in sales.

They’ll have a tasting menu if they allow walk-ins. Typically 5 wines and a bonus wine. If you know you’re not interested in trying a wine absolutely tell them, no worries. They’ll usually pour you something else instead.

Usually the price of the flight is complimentary if you buy wine (how much varies per winery and some don’t comp.) you can expect them to be a little more hands on than a restaurant or wine bar in terms of walking you through the wines.

Don’t be nervous or anything! It’s okay to ask questions and not to like every single wine. Their goal is always to sell you wine bottles, and the sales person likely gets a commission on any sales, but you should never feel pressured to buy something you don’t want.

They also probably have a club or something similar to a subscription where you receive wine a few times a year. Usually at a discount or free shipping or limited release bottlings are the big selling points of these clubs. A lot have great events and perks like free tastings a certain number of times a year. I’ve worked in wineries for a long time.

Expect a wine bar like atmosphere unless you sign up to do a tour or food and wine pairing which is usually a little more cost wise than just a classic tasting.

I would recommend not wearing heels though, after a few glasses you may inevitably find yourself strolling along the vineyards, so dress to be comfortable!

Keep in mind - the winery is in the hospitality industry - they want you to enjoy yourself and enjoy the product they are offering. Ask questions, relax, enjoy yourself. They are not there to judge you - they genuinely want you to have good time.

Sounds like you're overthinking it.

They're going to either have a list that you may choose a few options from, or they'll have a set list and that's what you'll be tasting. There's not much more to it than that, just enjoy it and relax.

It's also a good time to learn more by asking questions about each wine. In a good winery the tasting staff should be able to answer and help you understand more about each varietal and what food they might pair with.

Spit. Just know that spitting and dumping a glass is considered okay. Not rude. It’s a tasting after all.

Spit cups (solo cups can suffice) or bucket (champagne buckets sometimes are used) should be made available if your hosting.

YouTube was helpful for me. Konstantin Baum and Wineking helped me learn a lot.

Take a class! If you’re in that region I bet your school has a class—if not, maybe look at the local community college. A class usually gets you a lot of information and some good tastings.

Drink wine...keep a record/log of your experiences.

Corkscrew. Although screwcaps are better; in which case you just twist it off.

Just Start drinking wine! What ever tastes good you get more of, the. Repeat.

Why are you interested? What brought you to wine?

Do you live by any wineries? Go wine tasting! Fastest way to try different things and ask knowledgeable people questions.

Go on a beginner's wine course. Totally worth it.

Newbie guide right on the sidebar.

A book like The Wine Bible.

Wine Folly (book) helped me a lot when I was first getting into wine. I still reference it from time to time. I feel like it's a good place to start for wine newbbbbss.

The Somm documentaries really inspired me as well. Especially Somm: Into the Bottle.

But as others have said, go out and get tasting! Try different wines! Talk to the owner in your local wine shop (or wherever you buy wine) and see what they say. :)

1: Smell and taste everything. Have someone you know crush berries, fruit, herbs and spices and put them in wine glasses for you to smell blind. Go to grocery stores and farmers markets and smell everything. Go hiking and for long walks. Smell grasses and flowers and trees.

2: Find or make a tasting group. You will learn so much about smell, phenols and various compounds. You will learn and build vocabulary by listening to others talk about wine. Make sure to only invite people who really know wine and you can trust will bring solid, classic examples for tasting. Can't stress this enough.

3: If you have access to industry trade shows, attend them often and talk to the representative wine makers. They can also teach you what to look for in a glass. Better than anyone. If you don't have access - find a way to get it.

It sounds like what you’re looking for is a wine aroma kit; these will come with a number of vials, each representative of a common wine aroma. As you swirl/sniff/sip during a tasting, you can compare the wine against the scents in the kit to calibrate your internal definition of how the aromas present in context. Another less comprehensive but economical option is to compare a flight of wines against fruits, herbs, and spices you have on-hand or grab on your next grocery trip.

Your WSET courses will include a classroom tasting component—in addition to your instructor’s guidance, the wines poured will have been selected for being representative or conveying profile attributes relevant to the curriculum, lessening the guesswork. Give us a DM if you’re interested in study tools for practicing your tasting technique!

You need to create a "vocabulary" of aromas, bouquets, and scents. Smell things besides wine that have a distinct smell that you can associate them. Smell a rose and then a gardenia and note the difference. Smell different spices. Smell rye bread and then sourdough. Smell all the fruits, all the flours, all the spices, etc. Smell your toothpaste. Smell the park, Smell your house. Once you've established a range of smells you can identify than you will be able to pick them out in wine. Also try to smell the real thing and not something artificial.

Try as many different wines as you can, and pay attention while you're doing it. If you can, drink wine with food (doesn't have to be fancy, just a cracker or piece of cheese is enough); some wines are much better with food than without (old world styles in particular). If you can, try two different wines side-by-side and compare the differences; literally, any two wines, red/white/whatever.

There are no necessary accessories except something to open bottles with. $10 two-step waiter's pulls are standard for a reason. Wine glasses are like headphones: all music sounds better in good cans, all wine tastes better in a good glass (I am partial to Gabriel Glas but there are lots of options). If you need to decant, you can use anything inert; fancy decanters are unnecessary.

As far as things to try, there is a lot of great advice already in the comments. I will add: don't forget about sparkling (Cava, Cremant, Champagne), and don't forget about Sherry (start with at least Tio Pepe Fino and an Amontillado and go from there). Try not to get caught up in hipster/boomer bottle-chasing because it will ruin you. The world is full of great bottles that aren't prominently displayed.

Best of luck!

I have a 2-step corkscrew I love from Le Creuset. A bit expensive but works wonders.

Glass-wise I use Riedel Ouverture Red for almost all wines. Doesn't have to be fancy - you can upgrade when you have tasted a lot more wine, because it's more important to taste wine than wrecking your brain around what glasses works with what wines.

Look around for potential wine tasting clubs in your areas - find someone to taste wine with. Ex. If you are 4 then you have 4 different wines below a price range, like 20 bucks or a certain grape, a certain country etc. It's WAY cheaper to split bottles than buying them yourself - 20 bucks per person with 4 people are wine for 80 bucks. Lots of money saved AND you get to spend time with other people that likes wine as well.

You can use a aroma kit from Le Nez du Vin if you like to - I learned to find raspberry with it, or go down to the supermarket and find different berries, fruits etc. and smell them when you sit with a wine.

Don't be afraid to buy wines on sale. It's a cheap way of getting a lot of bottles and trying a bunch of different styles. The most important thing is to try wines and throw prejudice out the door. It doesn't matter if people talk shit about a wine. If you like it, you like it. White Zinfandel (a rosé) is a very popular wine to bash because it's very plain and not very complicated, if you'd like to give it a go.

Try a varietal from different countries to get a feel for what the different countries do to shape the taste of it.

You can try to buy a Sauvignon Blanc (the name of the grape used for white wine) from France and one from New Zealand, and smell and taste the difference, and the same with a Syrah (the name of the grape used for red wine) from France and one from Australia (known as Shiraz, but same grape).

Lastly, it won't hurt to read a bit about wine and its structure, like what tannins are, how acidity works, different styles of wines, and the difference betweeen grapes.

You can always write a DM in here if you like to.

Napa Cab is towards the top of the price spectrum so nearly all of the notable wines of the world will come in at a more appealing value proposition for you.

Maybe buy a "beginner's world tour" case containing some of the most common wine styles, to see what you like, things like:

Reds:

• Rioja (Spain)
• Bordeaux (France)
• Willamette Valley (OR) Pinot Noir
• Bourgogne Rouge (French Pinot Noir from Burgundy)
• Cotes du Rhone, St. Joseph or other Rhone red (France)
• Australian Shiraz
• Cabernet Franc from the Loire in France
• Malbec from Argentina
• Chianti Classico (Italy)
• Beaujolais (France)
• Something from the south of Italy, like Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Whites:

• Riesling from Alsace in France, Riesling Kabinett from Germany, or even a New York State Riesling
• Bourgogne Blanc (Chardonnay from Burgundy)
• Gruner Veltliner (Australia)
• New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
• A white from Northern Italy (there are many)
• A Chenin Blanc from the Loire

Try opening two bottles (of the same color) at a time and comparing side-by-side to really appreciate the differences, and read about each wine while you taste. Stick what's left in the fridge for a couple days if needed so they don't go to waste.

Find a good local wineshop that either offers a preset mixed case, or ask them to make you a mixed case with something like the above options.

For accessories all you need are a cheap waiter's corkscrew and some un-fancy glasses (clear, totally transparent, relatively thin). Good luck and post questions and your findings!

a wine key

a wine glass

the closest bottle of wine to me

check sub resources

Beaujolais for red. I like the idea of a young Riesling or pinto g for whites if you’re trying develop a palate.

Before committing to buy bottles, visit a wine bar and do some wine tasting or taste through a flight of wines (usually 2 oz per taster). Ask questions, take notes, ask for recommendations from an experienced salesperson - not randos on this sub.

Edit: Some of these white wine recommendations are spot on to start with.

I think Pinot Grigio is a happy medium. Def start white first then work your way over to red.

Oh my fav budget friendly brand is Ruffino.

Perhaps an off-dry Riesling like Dr. Loosen.

I really think the best first sip of wine for anyone is Moscato d’Asti. The good stuff just tastes like flowers. And then move on to more complicated things!