Best Wine Tastings and Classes in the St. Louis Area

So you've graduated from the wine coolers of yesteryear and you no longer pour your wine over ice. Maybe you've accidentally discovered that you can drink some pretty fine wine without spending a fortune, or maybe you watched the movie Sideways and you want to re-watch it and actually understand what they are talking about when they talk about the wine. It may just be possible that you took a tour of the wine country in out state Missouri and fell in love with it. For whatever reason, you've decided to become a full-fledged oenophile, or maybe you just want to learn a little more about wine. Where do you go? What do you do?

Actually the best place to start learning about wine is probably in the safety and comfort of your own home. Look in the Yellow Pages or do an Internet search and find the closest wine shop near you. A lot of the time these places will also sell cheese, imported foods, and wine equipment. Explore the store a bit and don't be afraid to ask questions, even ones that you might think are dumb. Trust me, the person working in the wine store has probably heard that same question many times before. Beware of the salespeople who want to quote you a long list of ratings from a wine connoisseur magazine. Instead seek out that person who recommends a particular wine because they love it, not by price or rating. Next, ask for some sample bottles. Hopefully if you are serious about this, you have saved up a little bit of money to invest in your new "hobby" so don't skimp. It's not necessary to spend a fortune either but if you can get a case, six bottles of different reds and six bottles of whites, that's a good start.

Next comes the easy and more enjoyable part: drink the wine. You may want to keep a journal of the ones that you liked the best. Remember that price is not always the best indicator of the quality of a wine. After you have a general idea of what's out there and what you like (the most important factor) then you can learn more about the technical aspects by attending some wine tastings or maybe even a class. Here are a few of the better ones in the St. Louis area: