03/04/2026
If you’re new to wine, knowing and liking a region will serve you better than liking a specific brand or winery.
I had a coworker ask if I had “Stoller wines”. I said I wasn’t familiar with the brand but asked where it was from. She had no idea. She found the wine label and we looked at it together. The label said the wine was from Dayton, Oregon (if you don’t know what this means or where this is, just google ‘Dayton Ohio wine region’ and it’ll give you a quick synopsis of the wine region)
I said that I do like red wines from the Willamette Valley so I’d probably like it, and I’d keep my eyes peeled next time I saw it in the store. My coworker was surprised that I focused more on the region than the actual winery.
The problem with wine is that there is there’s too much of it. Unless you’re a master sommelier, you’re probably not keeping tabs of every winery to exist ever. You’ll have more success knowing that you like wines from the Willamette Valley, so that I even if you don’t recognize any brands, you’ll still likely enjoy that wine. It’s also a good anchor to ask someone “I really like wines from the Willamette Valley but want to try something new, what would you suggest?”
It’s also why I wrote a book about wine labels. The wine label will tell you everything you need to know, you just need to have a bit of context.
