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1 8 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t AFTER SPENDING THREE decades tasting 3,000 wines a year, wine expert Karen Mac- Neil is well-equipped to share ten easy tips for learning about wine in 2018. Take Yourself on a Wine Adventure The best way to learn nothing new about wine is to continue to drink what you already know you like. There are more than 5,000 varieties of grapes in existence, so each week you should try something entirely unfamiliar if you truly want to explore the world of wine. Change Things Up At least once a week, open two wines at a time. Comparisons help us learn more quickly. Tackle One Wine Region at a Time Choose a single wine region—anywhere in the world—and for a few months, drink only wines from that area. Once you've got Place Number One under your belt, move on to another region or country. If you taste systematically, wine won't seem as overwhelming. Take Your Time While Tasting Swallowing wine quickly pretty much guar- antees you won't taste it or pick up any of its nuances. Hold wine on your palate for three to four seconds so that every flavor—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory—registers. Make Your Wine "Language" Accessible Using food metaphors to describe wine is convenient and easy: They can be big and juicy like a steak; fresh and light like a salad; or spicy and bold like a Thai soup. It's not necessary to learn overly-technical terms to effectively describe a wine. Write Down Your Impressions If you don't document your opinion of a wine you've just tasted, you'll likely have no way of remembering it down the line. Taste Wine with Other People Tasting wine with others is especially effec- tive for education because someone else will always notice a flavor or detail you did not. This opens your mind to possibilities you could not have experienced on your own. Develop a Rapport with a Good Wine Shop Forget the stuffy places (ditto the big, impersonal discount store). You want a place that's fun to browse around with knowledgeable clerks who can answer questions and introduce you to new and exciting wines. Put Price in Perspective A bottle of wine serves five, so that $25 wine per serving is about what many people spend on a latte without a second thought. Explore with Confidence You're not the only one who doesn't know what's inside all those bottles—most people don't, no matter how knowledgeable they seem. The wine drinkers who have the most fun are those who have the courage to be curious. Karen MacNeil is the author of The Wine Bible and the editor of the fast digital newsletter WineSpeed. A Toast to Wisdom TEN WAYS TO MAKE 2018 THE YEAR YOU REALLY LEARN ABOUT WINE by Karen MacNeil ■cr

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