I’m a big wine fan, and by that I mean that I very much enjoy drinking it and I’m not incredibly picky about exactly what type of wine I’m drinking (though I do know that White Zinfandel is THE WORST and I generally dislike sweeter wines). Throughout college, my go-to wine was Franzia (yes, the boxed wine, which by the way, has the most hilarious Wikipedia page), and ever since then, my wine choosing strategy has been based 100% on how much I like the label.

I realize that this is a highly flawed method, and so have made a point to attempt to educate myself further on the subject. One of the most helpful tools I’ve found has been this chart from Daily Infographic:

Click to Enlarge

I know you’re probably supposed to use this chart in the opposite direction – start from the middle and follow what sounds good to figure out what type of wine you should go for, but I’ve been looking for types of wine that I’ve tried, and using my impression of them help refine what exactly my tastes are (Malbec 4EVA).

It’s helped me realize that I apparently enjoy Fruity Reds and Dry Whites (specifically in the Blueberry/Blackberry and Rich Creamy Nutty categories, respectively), and has also helped me win an argument. I recently had a glass from a bottle of wine that the bf had picked out last week, and instantly said, “this tastes like cold cuts,” because it did, and it was not entirely pleasant. He then tried to convince me that that wasn’t a real category of things that wine could taste like (though he did argue that “dirt” was an acceptable wine taste…), BUT this chart, wonderful for so many reasons, proves that I WAS RIGHT! Right there off of ‘Savory Reds’ is “Clay / Cured Meats,” which isn’t the exact description that I used (“weird pre-packaged turkey breast slices that may or may not have gone bad”), but the basic idea is the same, and therefore, I declare myself the wine expert in the relationship (HA!).

Cheers!