In my opinion there is far too much snobbery attached to wine. It is just an enjoyable drink like any other. Of course there are knowledgeable experts,who can tell you the name, grape type and country of origin, just by the taste and the smell, but they are few and far between.

It is a good idea to smell the wine first before you taste it, this will kind of give you an idea of what the taste will be like. You need a good sized glass, so that you can swirl the wine around and sniff it more easily.

When you taste it, sip it and just let it linger in your mouth for a little while before you swallow, so that you enjoy the full taste. That's it, nothing complicated.

With a red I like to smell and taste good rich berry flavors, blackberry, blackcurrant, strawberry and with a touch of oak. I don't enjoy red wines that have too much tannin, this can give a heavy slightly bitter taste.

Don't bother listening to the armchair experts who will try to tell you this wine is far superior to that wine, if you enjoy it, then it's a good wine!

This would apply to all types of wines, not just red, but when selecting a wine, I look for aromas on the nose, flavor elements on the palate, and texture. It is hard to isolate one characteristic from the entire experience of drinking of wine, but I would say those three elements work together to deliver the wine's total expression. Also, your olfactory system is directly related to what you taste, so it is very difficult to isolate flavors from aromas. They work in tandem.