The Riesling grape is the perfect place to start investigating how seriously you should start taking wine.

Ultimately, if you want to take Riesling seriously, if you want to investigate what is over the pond, looking at Germany and Austria (the true home of this grape), you must understand certain terms.  Do you like petrol in your wine? Slate? If you do not understand what these terms truly mean, you will not find it appealing when somebody is recommending it to you. This is what the history and foundation of Riesling is about- the minerality and petrol characteristics.  Does this translate well onto a label?  Into a wine recommendation?  No.  Which is why we are seeing more blogs and wine radio programs making wine more approachable.  For me to convince you that the idea of smelling petrol and butane is a good thing, you will have to have an open mind.  The only way to do this, to make wine approachable, is to have an open mind and try.  It is all about what you are WILLING to know.