The Latest / Wine 101

I drank wine long before I wanted to learn about wine. Then one day I drank a delicious bottle of wine. I immediately decided it was time to start figuring the stuff out.

Sure, I read a book or two. You need to look at a basic guide that will help you start to get familiar with the important wine regions and grapes of the world. For example, you'll learn that red burgundy is made from Pinot Noir (mostly) and white burgundy is made from Chardonnay (mostly). This is stuff you have to learn.

In the world of fine white wine, perhaps no name resonates quite as much as that of Meursault. It's the kind of wine that everyone knows is pretty good. It is a safe choice. And it is often a very good choice. Maybe one day we'll get to a full guide to the intricacies of Meursault -- all the wonderful vineyards (many of which are classified at the village level and strongly over-perform), and the many fine producers.

For now, I'm just going to address one simple question: when is the right time to open up a bottle? 

 A lot of people out there are obsessed with vintages. There are lots of forces at work here.

First, there are the wine geeks who have nothing better to do than sit around debating the merits of, say, 1989 Bordeaux versus 1990. Engaging in these discussions would seem to these folks to be a good way to demonstrate knowledge and experience.

Collectors, how will you allocate your budget in the buying season coming up? Here would be my top picks based on what's available or coming into the marketplace these days.

Decanting red Burgundy is a hot button topic. 

People get really worked up about it. Some dogmatically prohibit this practice - ever. The most important thing is to put the glasses and the decanter on the table first - then taste the wine. Do you pour it into glasses and start drinking it right away? Pour it into glasses and wait? Decant? Only by tasting the wine are you ever going to find out.

Ribeira Sacra, Alto Piemonte, and the tastiest, trendiest wines in the world.