3 Point Plan For Choosing Wine You Really Want To Drink

What do we look for in a wine? Some people want a catchy name or pretty label, as long as it says “chardonnay.” Many prefer dry wines, while some favor sweetness in their vino. And judging by the number of fat, clunky bottles on wine store shelves, wineries think we prefer to pay more for packaging than quality on the inside.

“What do you look for in a wine?” is a question I get often, around the water cooler at work or at dinner parties with friends. These are people who don’t obsess about grape juice the way I do, who don’t reflexively swirl their water glasses, who don’t have four recycle bins, who don’t struggle to type words like “window” without adding an extraneous “e” — people with a life, in other words. They want wine to be tasty, reliable and affordable. They wonder why I prefer one sauvignon blanc over another, what sets this cabernet apart from that merlot or why anyone of sound mind would pay more than (fill in your personal budget here) for a bottle of wine.


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