Love wine? Here are 10 ways to appreciate it even more

New York

SEVERAL ideas have emerged over the course of this wine column that get to the heart of both how to think about wine in the 21st century, when so much of what we thought we knew has changed, and what consumers most want to know when buying wine. Here are 10 of the most important lessons we've learned.

Don't be afraid to explore

Over the last 30 years, the options for wine consumers have exploded. Good wines are now available at a higher level of quality from more places, made from more kinds of grapes and offered in more styles than ever before. The choices can be daunting, but the opportunities for pleasure are great.

Exploring wines new to the global market often offers great values as well. Cultivating a relationship with a good wine shop is a great way to discover up-and-coming wines - two excellent examples are the Greek white assyrtiko from Santorini, and an Austrian red, blaufrankisch. Both are extraordinary grapes and wonderful wines.

Find the best value for the price

Few issues matter more to consumers than how much to spend on wine and how to judge the value. Nobody wants to spend a lot of money on wine, or on anything, really. But, as with any category of consumer goods, some bottles cost more than others. Every bottle has its fixed costs: for farming, production, transport and the markups added with each transaction between producer, distributor, retailer and consumer.

Seriousness of purpose has a role. Small producers with an eye towards quality, whose farming and production methods are labour-intensive, have higher costs than big producers with an eye towards quantity. Figure in the law of supply and demand, and understand that the supply of most good wines is finite, as they are products of specific vineyards with one annual harvest. Costs can rise in a hurry.

Malbec from the Mendoza region of Argentina and Mercurey, in the Cote Chalonnaise region of Burgundy, are two telling examples of how consumers, when better informed, can more easily discern the relation of price and value.

Learn from mass-market wines

The issues of price and value become especially difficult to grasp when consumers see the profusion of popular and exceedingly cheap wines that are widely available.

Many of these bottles, which are highly popular and easy to find, are essentially made in factories to meet characteristics set forth in focus groups and consumer studies. I call these processed wines, where one might understand the sacrifices that come with mass production and ultra-low costs.

Pair wine with food

Few aspects of wine are as intimidating as the question of how to match it with food. Textbooks offer intricate formulas that are almost impossible to follow, while sommeliers, with their deep understanding of their wines and the food served at their restaurants, focus on the most arcane points of symmetry or contrast.

Just do it. With experience comes insight and preferences.

Examine your biases

We all have firm beliefs about certain wines, such as "I hate chardonnay", or "All rosés are bad". Often these are not the considered opinions that come with long exposure, but the products of a single bad experience, sometimes from long ago.

By doing so, you learn quickly (or in my case, relearn) that fixed beliefs about wine are often based on out-of-date information - see the evolving styles of zinfandel and grenache. Styles are not so much dictated by the potential of a grape or a place as by the intentions of a producer.

Defy conventional wisdom

Closely related to biases and stereotypes is the over-reliance on conventional wisdom. This is especially true in wine because education and experience can often require the considerable time and expense of travelling and of buying and trying wines. It's easier to open a book.

The problem is, a lot of those books are based on conventional beliefs, too. Personal experience and confidence in one's judgment are the essential tools in wine, and these are not so easy to come by. That's why we consistently preach the virtues of an open mind.

Our explorations of aligote and Valpolicella Classico were cases in point. Aligote has long been the despised "other white grape" to chardonnay in Burgundy. What a surprise to find that good producers are making excellent versions, and that the wines have a lot to offer.

Consider the place of origin

Few words are used in wine so often and with so little understanding as terroir, a French term that gives great value to the ability of a place and culture to imprint its distinguishing features on wine. Incidentally, it's not just wine that displays terroir. Many products, such as cheese, chocolate, olive oil and honey, do so as well.

We believe in the power of terroir and feel that great wines almost always possess the qualities that come from extraordinary terroirs, regardless of whether the wines are expensive or well known, such as in Morgon, one of the 10 Beaujolais regions considered distinctive enough to put their names on labels, and Valtellina, an Alpine area in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.

Value simplicity

One common assumption about wine is that it must be complex to be good. We've seen this exaltation of complexity in other areas as well. The craft beer movement has only recently rediscovered lager after devoting much of its brewing time to ever more creative and complicated expressions of ale.

In wine, as in fashion, everything has its place. Sometimes, you want a meditative, multifaceted wine that rewards contemplation. Other times you want something that's refreshing and undemanding. To call a wine simple is no insult. It's simply a question of matching the wine to the occasion. Simple pleasures can be had in thirst-quenching wines and on Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Appreciate the beauty of nuance

As much as we value simplicity in a wine, the answers to many questions in wine are complicated. Unlike politicians who eliminate shades of grey in their campaign commercials, we relish examining questions from all sides.

Prime examples are questions about ripeness when discussing wine grapes, and greatness. The funny thing is, you can ask these questions about wine, but how you answer them can apply to all parts of life.

Return to the classics

We believe that, with all the new sorts of wine to explore, we live in the most exciting time ever for wine lovers. But to understand wine, you have to explore its potential. That means returning occasionally to the classics, wines that have gripped the imagination for centuries. Bordeaux and the Marsannay region of Burgundy are both good examples of stepping back to remind ourselves of why these regions have been so venerated. NYTIMES