PDF Guide · EN / DE / FR
Wine Basics for Beginners
No jargon: the key terms, styles, and guidelines you need to choose and pair wine with confidence.
What's inside
- 1.Acidity, tannin, body: the three terms that matter
- 2.Reading labels without a degree
- 3.The 8 grape varieties you should know
- 4.Your first pairing: 4 questions to guide your choice
- 5.Ordering wine in a restaurant — confident in 30 seconds
- 6.Common beginner mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Reading sample
Sample: You don’t need to know 100 grape varieties. If you can place Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Syrah, you’ll find a good match in 9 out of 10 situations — the rest is curiosity.
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About this content
Editorially created and reviewed by the wine-pairing.online sommelier team led by Isidoro Celentano (MYSYMP AG, Switzerland). It is based on the 12-variable methodology (acidity, tannin, body, sweetness, aromatics, texture) building on the work of Tim Hanni MW, Gordon Shepherd and Hervé This, and on a database of 30,000+ wines, 313 grape varieties and 1,900+ regional pairings.
Last updated: August 2026