You already know what you like. You just don't know the wine words for it yet.
Somewhere along the way, wine became intimidating. People swirl glasses and talk about "terroir" and "malolactic fermentation" and you nod along wondering if you missed a class everyone else took. You didn't. Most of those people are bluffing. The entire point of wine is drinking something that tastes good with your dinner. That's it. You have a mouth and opinions. That's the only equipment required.
The Only 4 Things That Actually Matter
Every wine in the world — every single one, from a $9 bottle at Trader Joe's to a $900 Burgundy — can be described along four axes. Learn these and you can talk about wine with anyone.
Sweet vs. Dry. Dry means "not sweet." Most wines are dry. If someone hands you a glass and you don't taste any sweetness, it's dry. If there's a little sugar, it's "off-dry." If it tastes like dessert, it's sweet. Done.
Light vs. Heavy. Hold skim milk in your mouth. Now imagine whole milk. Now cream. Wines work the same way. A Pinot Grigio feels like water. A Cabernet feels like velvet. This is called "body," and it's just about mouthfeel.
Fruity vs. Earthy. Some wines taste like a bowl of berries. Others taste like a forest floor after rain, or like mushrooms, or like a wet rock. Neither is better. It's just preference.
Smooth vs. Grippy. That dry, sandpapery feeling that sucks the moisture out of your cheeks? That's tannin. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Red wines have more tannin than whites. Young reds have more than old ones.
That's it. Everything else is optional knowledge. When someone asks what kind of wine you like, you can now say "I like dry, medium-bodied, fruity reds that aren't too grippy" and a sommelier will know exactly what to pour you.
Find Your Starting Point
You already drink things with flavors and textures you're drawn to. Those preferences translate directly into wine preferences — you just haven't made the connection yet. Here's the cheat sheet.
If you like lemonade — tart, refreshing, citrusy — try Sauvignon Blanc. Grab a bottle from Marlborough, New Zealand (Kim Crawford or Cloudy Bay are everywhere, $12-18) and you'll get that same zesty, mouth-watering hit.
If you like hot chocolate — rich, warm, comforting — try Malbec. An Argentine Malbec from Mendoza (Catena, Alamos, or Bodega Norton, $10-15) is plush, dark-fruited, and feels like a blanket.
If you like sparkling water — crisp, clean, all about the bubbles — try Prosecco or Champagne. Prosecco is lighter and cheaper ($10-14). Champagne is more complex and pricier ($35+). Both are great. La Marca Prosecco is a perfectly fine place to start.
If you like iced tea — easygoing, refreshing, good with everything — try dry Ros\u00e9. Not the sweet pink stuff from the early 2000s. A dry Proven\u00e7al ros\u00e9 (Whispering Angel is the famous one, $18-22) tastes like strawberries and minerals and pairs with basically any food.
If you like black coffee — strong, bitter, no sugar, serious — try Cabernet Sauvignon. You already like intense, tannic things. A Napa Cab (Louis Martini or Hess Select, $15-22) has that same structured, no-nonsense backbone.
If you like apple juice — sweet, fruity, easy to drink — try Riesling. Specifically a German Riesling labeled "Kabinett" (Dr. Loosen or Clean Slate, $10-14). It's lightly sweet, low in alcohol, and dangerously drinkable.
None of these are where you have to stay. They're where you start. Once you find a lane you like, you start exploring neighbors — if Sauvignon Blanc clicks, maybe you try Albari\u00f1o or Vermentino next. If Malbec is your thing, Syrah is right around the corner. The whole point is building from something you already enjoy.
The 6 Grapes You'll See Everywhere
Wine lists can run hundreds of bottles long, but almost all of them come back to a handful of grapes. Know these six and you can walk into any restaurant on the planet.
Cabernet Sauvignon: the big, tannic red — dark fruit, firm structure, ages well, and costs anywhere from $8 to $800.
Pinot Noir: the silky, lighter red — red berries, mushroom, a little smoke, and the grape behind red Burgundy.
Merlot: the soft, approachable red — plum, chocolate, round tannins, and unfairly dismissed since that scene in Sideways.
Chardonnay: the shape-shifter white — crisp and minerally without oak (Chablis), buttery and rich with oak (Napa), and everything in between.
Sauvignon Blanc: the zippy white — grapefruit, grass, lime, and the wine equivalent of a cold shower on a hot day.
Riesling: the underrated white — can be dry or sweet, always has electric acidity, and sommeliers argue it's the most food-friendly grape alive.
That covers maybe 70% of every wine list you'll encounter. The other 30% — your Tempranillos, Nebbiolo, Grüner Veltliners, Gamays — are worth exploring once you've got the basics down. But you don't need them on day one.
A quick note on Merlot. It got a terrible reputation after the movie Sideways came out in 2004, and sales dropped for over a decade. That's absurd. Good Merlot — especially from Pomerol, where Château Pétrus (one of the most expensive wines on Earth) is 100% Merlot — is extraordinary. Don't skip it because a fictional character told you to.
How to Order Wine at a Restaurant Without Panicking
The wine list arrives. It's 14 pages long. The server is hovering. Here are three scripts that work every time.
Script 1 — The Honest Approach: "I'm not a big wine person, but I'm having the salmon. Can you pick something that goes with it in the $40-60 range?"
This is the best thing you can say. Servers love this. You've given them a dish, a budget, and permission to help. They will pick something great because it makes them look good.
Script 2 — The Preference Approach: "I usually like lighter reds — something smooth, not too heavy. What do you have around $50?"
You've used two of the four descriptors from earlier (light and smooth). That's enough for any competent server to narrow it down to two or three options.
Script 3 — The Adventurous Approach: "What's something on the list you're excited about right now? I'll try anything under $60."
Servers and sommeliers have favorites. Asking what they're excited about gets you off the beaten path and usually lands you a better bottle than picking blindly.
A universal tip on pricing: at most restaurants, the second- or third-cheapest bottle on the list is usually the best value. The absolute cheapest is often a high-margin house pour. The mid-range bottles are where restaurants put the wines they're actually proud of, at fair markups.
One more thing: if you taste the wine and it tastes like wet cardboard or vinegar, it's corked or flawed. Send it back. That's not being picky — the bottle is broken. But if you taste it and it's just not your style? That's on you. Drink it anyway and order differently next time.
How to Taste Wine (30-Second Version)
People make this weird. It doesn't have to be.
Look at it. Is it light or dark? Red, white, pink, orange? You now know something about the body and style. That took two seconds.
Smell it. Stick your nose in the glass. Not a polite sniff — really get in there. Give the glass a gentle swirl first (this releases more aromas — it's not just for show). What comes up? Fruit? Flowers? Pepper? Toast? Dirt? Your nose does most of the tasting anyway. If the wine smells good, you're probably going to like it.
Sip it. Let it sit on your tongue for a moment. Is it sweet or dry? Light or heavy? Smooth or grippy? Does it taste like what it smelled like?
Think about it. Did you like it? That's the whole review. You don't need to identify "notes of boysenberry with a hint of pencil shavings." You just need to know if you'd order another glass. If yes, remember the name. If no, try something else.
The entire process takes less time than checking your phone. Do it three or four times with different wines and you'll start noticing your own patterns — the grapes you keep coming back to, the styles that make you happy. Keep a note on your phone if it helps. "Loved the Pinot Noir at that Italian place" is worth more than any tasting course.
Here's one thing to avoid: don't worry about glassware, serving temperature, or decanting right now. Yes, those things matter a little. But drinking wine out of the "wrong" glass doesn't make it taste bad. It makes it taste 3% less good. You can optimize later. Right now, just drink things and pay attention to what makes you reach for a second glass.
This is exactly the moment PairScan was built for. You're at a restaurant, the wine list is long, and you don't feel like guessing. Open the app, point your camera at the menu, and get a recommendation matched to your food and your taste — in seconds. No jargon. No judgment. Just a good glass of wine with your dinner.
Scan. Pair. Sip.