Regions, years, brand????

[stevebody]

Bella,

Two suggestions:

Any time you see a listing in the paper or posted on the wall in a wine shop for an open tasting, GO. It's the least painful($$) way to sample several wines and you won't waste money on stuff you hate. Under that same heading, BOLO for listings in your local paper's "What's Happening" section for wine-tasting groups. If you can find one that is aimed at novices - ideally a whole bunch of people learning together - it's great for tasting a lot of wine inexpensively and for making contacts.

Secondly, cultivate a relationship woth a salesperson in a good local wine shop. Almost all wine salespeople do it because they love wine and enjoy talking about it (No other reason makes sense, really, since you'll never get rich doing it) I was lucky enough to find a great guy at my local wine shop who poured samples every day and loved to wax eloquent about them. I wound up working there, later on, so tangible results can come out of the relationship, too. If the person is really good and doesn't have their head wedged up their posterior, they'll keep you in a comfortable price range for your learning curve and gradually bring your tastes along, watching to see what you respond to, not what they want you to like. Beware of anyone who tells you you can't buy really good wine for little money. They're flat-out lying and just want your bux.

Hope this helps.