Will I ever become a wine snob?
You can wake me up for a good glass of champagne. Or crémant. I don’t discriminate. (But please don’t offer me prosecco… unless we’re on a budget airline and that’s all they’ve got.) That said, there’s a difference between loving wine and simply perfecting the wine-glass-holding pose for Instagram.
So this past month, I finally decided to get a bit more serious. No, I’m not becoming a sommelier (yet), but I did join the Pitch PR Wine Academy. And somewhere between the sipping, swirling, and slightly tipsy note-taking, I actually learned a thing or three.
Think of this as your quick-start guide to wine tasting - a few wine tips to help you feel more confident when scanning a wine list or pairing something with dinner.
Swirl your wine
Tasting wine isn’t just about what’s in your glass - it’s about how you approach it. The classic wine-tasting ritual goes like this: look, swirl, smell, sip… and sip again. (Yes, that second sip is essential — the first just preps your palate, the second shows you what the wine is really about.)
I used to roll my eyes at the swirl. It felt performative - like something you'd do to impress a date or your sommelier. But swirling actually oxygenates the wine and releases its aromas, which is key to unlocking its flavour.
Bonus: once you’ve mastered the swirl, it looks great in a reel.
Never judge a rosé by it’s color
Guilty as charged: I’ve been that girl proudly ordering “the one from Provence” while side-eyeing the darker rosé at the next table. But here’s the thing - colour tells you next to nothing about quality.
A pale pink might look chic, but flavour depends on so much more: the grape variety, the soil it grew in, the climate, the harvest date, and that’s all before the winemaking even begins. So next time, read the tasting notes. Ask questions. And remember what you like, so you can order something you'll actually enjoy - not just something photogenic.
Know your grape
Knowing what kind of grapes you like, and where they’re grown, makes choosing wine so much easier. It’s like knowing you’d rather spend your Saturday on a sunny terrace in De Pijp than in a basement club in Noord. Both can be fun, but the vibe is completely different.
Take Alsace and the Loire Valley, for example. Alsace (on the French-German border) leans into aromatic whites like Riesling and Gewürztraminer - floral, expressive, and great with sushi or spicy food. The Loire, on the other hand, is known for zesty, mineral-driven wines like Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre. Think dry, crisp, and ideal with grilled fish or fresh oysters.
Kind of like picking between sipping champagne at Pulitzer’s Bar or a cloudy orange wine at GlouGlou - same city, totally different experience.
So, will I become a wine expert overnight? Probably not. But I’ve stopped choosing bottles based on the prettiest label, and that feels like growth. The next time someone hands me a wine list, I might finally know how to choose something good - no pose required.
And if not? I’ll just swirl with confidence, fake it ‘til I taste it, and hope no one asks me to pronounce Châteauneuf-du-Pape out loud.
