My journey continues

[hotwine]

I highly recommend a good book, such as the Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine; it's about $40 and well worth the price.

Also recommend you visit a good wine shop instead of a discounter like Trader Joe's. A discounter is fine when you have enough experience to identify the good stuff when you see it, but it's a lousy place to try to learn about European wines.

Get a good book, read-read-read, make notes, take the notes to a good wine shop where the staff knows what the hell they're talking about, and say "I'd like to buy one of these, please." Do that a few times, make notes about what you like and don't like, and take those notes to a discounter to help you search for bargains on the ones you like. Repeat, for the next 40 years or so.