Learning about Wine
My first exposure to fine wine occurred around 1973, when I took a UCLA extension course vaguely titled Wine Education, and I was fortunate to have some background in the subject.
The instructor, a jolly West Los Angeles wine collector whose name was John, had no guidelines from the extension studies office, so he wrote his own syllabus. And it was obvious from the first class that he expected much more of most students.
The problem was that there was no textbook; this was a "tasting-oriented" course — a perfectly fine format for most attendees. But it was obvious that my friend Mike and I were far ahead of the others in wine knowledge.
By the second session, I could see that most of those taking this course were completely lost with some of the terms John used.
Which John understood. It was as if he were "playing the piano to a cow," an idiom translated from Mandarin Chinese when someone tries to explain something to people who could never hope to understand or appreciate what's being said.
I'll never forget John trying to explain a flaw he (and Mike and I) identified in one wine that John had served. The wine was too old and had oxidized. John tried to explain the differences between oxidation and maderization. So someone asked John to explain the differences.
After a few frustrating minutes, John gave up. The class seemed relieved.
What impressed me most about the class was that John seemed to know a lot about wine, but it was difficult for him to explain because most of the time he was comparing California wines to those from Europe. And most of us had never tasted the European wines he mentioned.
Months later, I became friendly with John and his basic advice to me was the best way to learn about the subject.
He said that to master wine, I should try different wines from the same grape variety, but do so from different regions. He said that where the grapes grew usually contributed something more interesting to a wine than just what the grape variety was.
Wine of the Week: 2025 Matua Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough ($12) — New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc can be easy to identify because of its fascinating gooseberry, lemongrass and herbal aroma notes. The mid-palate has a pink grapefruit kind of flavor and although the wine is relatively soft in the aftertaste, the acidity is excellent. This is a good example of what John was talking about. There is a distinctive New Zealand-ness in this wine that will not be found in Sauvignon Blancs of very many other areas of the world.
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Last Updated: Monday, Jun 15, 2026 04:40:30 -0700
Copyright 2026 Creators Syndicate