Letting go of the expert goal

I've been curious about wine for a long time. But I rarely ordered or bought wine because I didn't know what I was doing.

And I am very (overly) worried about doing or saying something that shows I'm out of place in any way.  So rather than ask questions of a server that might show I don't know all the right wine terms, I just order something else.

This year I'm working on getting over that as I start to visit local wineries and just try things and buy what I like.

As I do that, I continue to remind myself that it's not necessary for me to become an expert or to be able to talk about wine like a sommelier.  This is something I'm doing for me, because it's fun and it gives me another way to look at Florida and anywhere else I'm traveling.

Letting go of the goal of becoming an expert (or the fear of show how little knowledge I have) is freeing.    I have avoided many things just because I didn't want to show my ignorance.  So I'm going to be asking dumb questions and tasting wine in the "wrong" way (I've probably already done that).

And I'm sure someone is going to smirk when I decide I like a particular wine but can't describe it other than to say it tastes great.  I'm still going to have fun with it - already am - and do me.

Here and there I'm going to do some reading, maybe even take a class to learn more, but I won't wait to have the knowledge.  This Wine 101 article in the WSJ about how to taste a wine is a first step.

Later this week I'll post something about my visit in November to Arrington Vineyards in Tennessee - which was a lot of fun.