With an intimidating reputation, thousands of varietals and a per bottle price tag often higher than a case of beer, it’s no wonder wine never became a staple in the life of the average college student. Fear no more: here’s a quick and dirty guide to understanding, tasting and buying wine.

A brief history
“Wine is basically fermented grape juice but it’s so much more than that,” wine educator Grant Dehne of Reno wine store Vino 100 said. “It is every other subject imaginable: economic, diplomatic and especially religious.”

Indeed wine has a long and fabled history: the first known literal reference to wine came from the Old Testament, where it states that Noah planted a vineyard. Persian legend tells the story of a woman who tried to poison herself with spoiled grapes but fell asleep light-headed and awoke the next day with all her worries gone.

But the earliest archeological evidence of wine dates back to 5,000 B.C. in the form of residue on a clay vessel from the Middle East. But wine didn’t take off for a few thousand years.

“Christianity really influenced the spread of wine,” Dehne said. “As European missionaries went to places like Chile and Argentina, they brought their knowledge of winemaking to the culture.”

Today, the art of winemaking has permeated dozens of countries on nearly every continent.

How to taste wine

Believe it or not, that guy with his nose in his glass isn’t just being pretentious—there is a method to all that swirling, sniffing and swishing. Choosing a wine you’ll enjoy takes the efforts of several of your senses. Dehne offered a few steps for approaching any glass of wine.

Look at the wine
Look for clarity and consistency of color. The best way to do this is to hold the glass up against something that is white. For clarity, you generally do not want a wine that looks cloudy in the glass. As you look for consistency, notice the color—with older vintages of reds, the color will recede to the center and the outside will have an orange or brownish hue. Dehne’s rule: if the color doesn’t appeal to you, don’t drink it.

Swirl the glass
This serves two purposes: it releases the wine’s fragrance and coats the glass so you can observe the wine’s “legs,” or “tears,” meaning the way it trickles down the glass. Traditionally, the “legs” help you identify the amount of alcohol in the wine—a thicker, slower trickle indicates a high amount of alcohol or sugar. This is not as true today, Dehne warns, since the many additives in modern wines can affect its “legs.”

Sniff the wine several times
Each time forgetting what you’ve just smelled and look for a different scent. With the first sniff, you may only notice the alcohol, with the second, the fruits in the wine and with the third, you may notice sweetness or spiciness. Dehne said a sweeter smell indicates that the wine has been “oaked,” meaning it has spent too much time fermenting in its oak barrel.

Taste the wine
Swishing and letting it linger in your mouth. When doing this, you’re looking for the wine’s “body,” or weight. Dehne advises thinking of the wine as milk: a non-fat milk would be considered light-bodied, two percent milk would be medium-bodied and whole milk would be heavy-bodied. Also look for how long the flavor stays in your mouth a.k.a. “lingering notes.”“No one sign means a wine is better than another,” Dehne said. “Tasting is just about experiencing the wine and finding out what you like.”

The wine drinker’s vocabulary

• Tannins: compounds from the skin, seeds and stems of grapes usually found in red wines. Tannins are bitter in flavor and often result in a puckery or dry palate.
• Old world wines: the more heralded wines of countries like France, Germany, Italy and others that have been making wines for centuries. Old world wines are based in tradition and generational secrets of the trade.
• New world wines: modern, “science forward” wines commonly from regions such as New Zealand, Chile, New York and California.
• Legs or tears: drops of wine that trickle down the inside of the glass after the wine is swirled or tasted. They typically indicate the alcohol and sugar content of the wine: the slower the trickle, the more alcohol or sugar in the wine.
• Oaky: describes a wine with a toasty or sweet vanilla flavors resulting from oak barrel fermentation. A wine that has overdeveloped these flavors has likely spent too much time in the barrel and is therefore “oaked.”
• Fruit forward: describes a wine dominated by fresh fruit flavors. A wine can be fruit forward in either taste smell or both.
• Earthy: describes a wine with mineral aromas.
• Dry: the opposite of sweet, except in sparkling wines where dry means sweet (do try to keep up). Dry wines have low or no levels of residual sugar.
• Varietals: wines made from a single grape and bear the grape’s name. Examples include Chardonnay, Merlot and Riesling. U.S. law requires that a varietal wine must contain at least 75 percent of that grape.
• Terrior: (pronounced teh-RWAHR) a French term meaning “soil” referring to the wine’s region of origin that gives the flavor it’s unique properties. A sense of terrior lends complexity to a wine.
• Reserve: traditionally a designation used by a winemaker to designate his best product but now mostly a marketing term arbitrarily placed on wine to help sales.
• Body: the weight and feel of the wine in the mouth.
• Finish: can describe the wine’s aftertaste in both length and flavor. Generally, the longer the finish, the higher the quality of the wine.

Where and what wine to find for a good sip

Reno area wine shops Fine Vines and Vino 100 have recommended a few good wines under $15 for the penniless college student.
Vino 100 recommends:

• Pierre Chainier Vouvray Chenin Blanc 2006 ($14)
  From the Loire Valleys in the Vouvray region of northwest France, this white has pineapple and peach notes. Best enjoyed with ripe cheeses and desserts.
• Pircas Negras Torrontés 2006 ($13)
  From Argentina, this white wine is crisp, bright and fruit-forward. Best enjoyed with summer fare and sweets.
• Lorca Monastrell 2006 ($13)
  From the Murcia region of Spain, this red has chocolate and cherry aromas.
• Gruet Demi Sec ($20)
  Although a little out of the price barrier, this champagne is worth the extra $5. The winemaker, Laurent Gruet, is the youngest brother of a famed champagne house in France. Knowing he would never touch the estate as the youngest, he produces his champagne near Albuquerque, N.M., but still draws resources from winemakers back in France.

Fine Vines recommends:

• Pedroncelli Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($13.99)
  This Sonoma County red has flavors of red currant, spicy pepper and subtle oak notes.
• Little Black Dress Pinot Grigio 2007 ($9.50)
  This fun California white has an alluring bottle and light, refreshing flavor.
• New Age White ($9.75)
  This naturally sparkling, low alcohol blend is enjoyed with a squeeze of lime in Argentina. The sweet, white wine is a top seller and could easily fit in at an outdoor barbecue or summer day at the beach.
• Snoqualmie Chardonnay 2006 ($10.99)
  Named after a mountain range in Washington, this Chardonnay with a Native American moniker has both fruity and oaky notes and a soft finish. The bottle recommends that it be paired with grilled halibut or chicken quesadilla.

Vino 100
748 South Meadows Parkway
Reno, NV 89521
775-851-8466

Fine Vines
6300 Mae Anne Ave., Ste. 3
Reno, NV 89523
775-787-6300