“I’m not a Sommelier.”

What makes wine seem so fancy to so many people? When I meet people new to wine, or new to wine tastings, and they find out that I “know wine” they almost always feel like they have to start will a disclaimer. I get it a lot when someone who I know introduces me to one of their guests or friends. It mostly sounds like; “This is Alex, he knows wine!” I have even been call a “wine expert.” I put the brakes on that comment real fast! There are very, VERY few, true wine experts out there, even though you can pay some money take a relatively simple test and get a “Certified Wine Expert” certificate. It’s true that I really enjoy wine, and that I know a lot about the wines I like, and the wines that I don’t like, and have some wine credentials. But the only people who should be fearful of me or my wine knowledge are wine snobs. I love taking them apart!But the other night I met a new fellow wine taster and during the introduction she felt the need to say the disclaimer of “I’m not a Sommelier.” I responded, “Me either!” I am not going to get into all of the differences here, but you don’t need to “know wine” to know what you like and to learn new wines. I love french fries, but I am not a potato farmer, and I definitely know what a good french fry is. I’ve been to several beer tastings, go to breweries, and I have never heard someone introduce themselves and include “But I am not a brew master.” So why is wine so different? Well, drink an IPA. It’s an IPA. Drink an amazing wine and it can be hard to even describe, infinitely more complex. That’s definitely part of it, but that doesn’t mean you have to know wine to enjoy wine, or to be able to find a wine that you will like. And you definitely don’t need to be a sommelier to talk about wine! Talking about wine is a good way to learn more about it. So stop being so worried about being judged, you’re not going to be. Come and have confidence that you will have a good time at a wine tasting. If you had come to this tasting we would have talked about tonight’s Crowd Favorite; where it was from, what an AVA is, the flavors we got while tasting. It was good. Hope to see you at the next one.