You might be apprehensive, but do it. Going to a wine tasting is a great way to learn about wines. You will get the chance to try several wines in a row. The speaker will typically describe something about each wine before you try it, and give his/her opinion on what flavours they tasted and aromas they smelled. Practice makes perfect.
When you are trying wines at home, you may have one, maybe two wines. This is OK, but you can only compare one against the other. This can be a problem if you have one red and one white wine, as the two will likely be very different. What you want to do, if you do open two wines, is to pick two of the same varietal, e.g. two cabernet sauvignon. What you should also do is open wines from two different price points. Try a sub $20 and a $30-$40 Cabernet Sauvignon for example. Can you taste a different at the higher price point? Usually the higher price point wines use riper grapes, have more concentrated flavours and are aged in oak barrels for an extended period. The lower price point wine, may use lesser quality grapes (maybe picked before they reached thier full ripeness and may have some green grapes mixed in) and if there is oak, it could be from oak chips added to the fermenting tank. You will get a less expressive, thinner wine, with maybe a very oaky flavour, for example. It may not happen and you get a very nice inexpensive wine. There are many around. But usually you should be able to taste and smell the difference.
So wherever you are reading this blog from, go to google or yahoo and try to search for wine societies near to where you live. In Vancouver, BC, there is the South World Wine Society, BC Wine Appreciation Society, Australian Wine Appreciation Society, and a few more. At these societies they usually show wines from different price points and usually follow a theme, such as Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world, or compare Australian to South African wine. These wines have been picked specifically to show their differences.If you are shy, you can get MyWinePal to host a wine tasting at your home. Here is the link: http://www.mywinepal.com/education.html Enjoy!
