Opening a bottle of wine and drinking a glass will give you the opportunity to taste that one varietal produced by that one winery. For those with some wine tasting experience, drinking that one wine will give them an opportunity to assess the pros and cons of the wine. But, to truly experience differences in wines, you need to sample two or more wines at a time. That’s why doing wine tastings is so important in learning about wine.

The ultimate way to do wine tastings is at a winery or a wine bar that serves tasting flights. In these settings, you get the opportunity to have a couple sips of a variety of wines. And often, it can be eye opening.

At a winery, you usually start with white wines unless they produce rosés or sparkling wines which are a great place to start. White wines are lighter and more delicate in their flavors so that’s why you start there. Then, you’ll move into the red wines that have the bigger and bolder flavors.

But, the most important part of any wine tasting, whether it’s two wines or more, is the side-by-side comparisons and the opportunity to go back and “revisit” a wine. Even those with little or no wine experience will find doing side-by-side tasting interesting. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had multiple bottles opened and served a person one wine and then a second wine. And, the responses are usually the same - “Wow! I like the first one but this second one is really different!” Yes, indeed, they always are!

So, whether it’s a visit to a winery, trying a flight of samplers at a wine bar, or just opening a couple of bottles at home with friends and family, ensure that you take the time to sample the wines, one after the other, to truly understand differences in the wines and to better understand your personal wine preferences. Cheers!