total novice vin du pays question

[SadRabbit]

here's the deal. i thought i'd like to explore wines a little but i know nothing.i wonder should i try something at random?should i compare various types, or should i pick one type and try various versions?
being that i don't know if i'm going to be particularly fond of something, and keeping in mind that any exceptional qualities would be lost on me, i decide to keep to rather moderately priced wines. and i decide to try to get a general overview of the different types of wine.
so what do i do?there's about a million bordeaux out there and a billion merlot...so i'm reading about these vins du pays and i figure even if they're not great wines, they may serve as inepensive examples of particular varieties...just to get an inkling of the difference between a cabernet and a zinfandel,for example.
so you know what?there's a billion of them too. so i grab one at random. it's a 1997 syrah from les jamelles.now i would like to know if the wine i'm trying is representative of what a better syrah would be like. that is, will i be able to get a general feel forwhat i like with these vins du pays or should i just lay out some cash on bigger names and gamble?
has anyone ever tried this particular wine? or heard of it? what should i be looking for?