Think you don’t like wine?

Best Wines for Beginners Who Think They Don't Like Wine

"I don't like wine" is almost never true. What's usually true is one of these: I don't like the wine I've been served. I don't like feeling dumb about wine. I tried something dry and bitter once and decided that was the whole category.

All of that is fair. But writing off wine after one bad Cabernet at a work event is like writing off music after one playlist DJ plays your friend's wedding and can't read the room. Wine covers a wider range of flavor than nearly any drink there is, and the trick is entering from your side of it, not from the tannin-and-tweed side. I entered from the sweet side myself, in college, wanting nothing but sweet wine and feeling vaguely apologetic about it. I shouldn't have been, and neither should you.

Here's the entrance for every version of "I don't like wine."

"Wine tastes bitter or sour to me"

You've been drinking dry reds, probably young ones, probably cheap ones. What you want is fruit-forward and smooth:

• Moscato d'Asti ($14 to $20): lightly fizzy, gently sweet, tastes like nectarines. Of everything on this site, this is the bottle that converts the most skeptics.
• Washington State Riesling ($10 to $15): peachy, with a sweet-tart finish, like good lemonade that grew up.
• Spanish Garnacha ($10 to $14): if you want to try red, this is the plush, berry-soft entrance, with almost none of the bitterness that scared you off.

"Wine is too strong, I'm a cocktail person"

Match the cocktail, find the bridge:

• Margarita person: try a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Same citrus snap, same brightness.
• Aperol Spritz person: I have news, you already drink wine (that's prosecco in there). Go straight to Moscato d'Asti or a fruity rosé.
• Old fashioned person: Malbec. Dark, rich, a little smoky sweetness.
• Vodka soda person: dry sparkling wine, a Cava labeled Brut. Clean, cold, fizzy.

"Wine gives me a headache"

Usually that's dehydration, plus the fact that wine sneaks up on you faster than cocktails do. Two practical moves: keep a glass of water going alongside every glass of wine, and buy slightly better bottles ($15 instead of $8). Not because cheap wine is full of chemicals (that's mostly myth), but because you'll sip slower when you're actually enjoying it.

"Wine people are exhausting"

Some are. I've sat through the dinners. The good news is you never have to swirl, sniff, or say "notes of" anything. The entire skill of wine comes down to one question: do I want another sip? If yes, you like it, buy it again. If no, try a different grape next time. That's the whole hobby, whatever the exhausting people tell you.

The skeptic's starter three

If you buy exactly three bottles to settle whether wine is for you (about $45 total):

1. Moscato d'Asti, the sweet fizzy one. If you like this, you like wine. Welcome.
2. Spanish Garnacha, the soft red. Drink it with pizza and it will make sense immediately.
3. Cava, the dry bubbles. Drink it with anything fried. Sparkling wine with french fries sounds like a joke, but it's a sommelier's cliché for a reason.

One of these three wins over nearly everybody.

Take the shortcut

Our 60-second quiz asks about your coffee order and your snack drawer, things you actually know, and hands you a wine profile with specific bottles. It was built for exactly the person this article is for.

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