1. Make it fun
Wine is to be enjoyed not just drunk. Make having a bottle of wine an experience! Cook a great meal. Invite friends over. Select the best wine to go with both the meal and the friends who are joining. Visit a winery on your travels. Have fun with you local wine shop owner. There are so many things you can experience with wine. You don’t have to buy and drink the most expensive bottle of wine all the time, because all wines deserve to be experienced. When you look back on an evening it will be remembered for the experience, not just the wine, but we all know the wine helped.

2. Take in the wine
Wine is complicated. From varietal to varietal and from region to region there, are as many different types of wine than cars, electronic gadgets and blogs on the subject combined. Each wine brings something different to the (dinner) table. Experience and understand the wine. Learn about its value to you. The more you try, the more you will know. The more you know, the more you can experience. Then you don’t need to rely on the silly ratings other people put on wines and make your own decisions.

3. Wine is a commodity
Wine is produced from an agricultural process. The conditions the vines grow in (terroir) is the all important key to making a good wine. At the same time the sun needs to shine, rain needs to fall and frost needs to say away at all the right times for the grapes to be ideal. Then there is the winery and wine maker, who decide on the process the grapes will go through. All this goes into the bottle of wine you find at the store. All these environmental and procedural considerations create the value of a wine. If done right, the value of the wine will grow as it matures – when stored correctly. So pay the right price for it, enjoy it when the time is right and most of all don’t waste it.

4. Everything in moderation
Now this can go for just about anything in life. Over consumption does not help you experience wine any more than a glass or two. Have enough to get the most from the wine, but not too much more. As we all know, wine contains alcohol and does get you drunk no matter how nicely it goes down. Above all, never drive after drinking. Take public transport. It’s better for you, other people on the road and the environment.

5. Be open minded
If someone’s taste in wine is different to yours, it is just that – different, not better or worse. Everyone has their own taste and they have their right to be different. Rather than turning your nose up at it, understand why they enjoy the wine, you may learn something. Don’t bore other people with your knowledge about a wine if it isn’t fun for them. Let’s face it, there are far more important things going on in the world than fermentation techniques and filtering processes. Talk about the world and common interests, wine will help these conversations more often than not.

Please share you maxims/guidelines with us, we would love to hear more!