5 Mistakes You Might Be Making With Wine, According To Southern Sommeliers

Whether you’re popping a bottle to pair with Thanksgiving dinner, ordering a glass to pair with your restaurant entree, or hosting friends for happy hour, it can be intimidating — even for those fairly well-versed in wine—to feel confident with their choices.

But we have some great news: Even if you stray off the beaten path from what most sommeliers might recommend in a certain scenario, you have a lot more flexibility than you might think. And regardless of what happens, you’ll have a new memory and a lesson to take along with you as you select and share your next bottle.

“I’ve seen wine have the unique ability to elevate the experience of a meal, start new friendships, and even bring people back together,” explains Austin Hamilton, sommelier and bar manager at Deacon's New South in Nashville, Tennessee. And if that happens, there’s no such thing as a mistake to be made.

That being said, there are some common situations that slip up many sippers, which can leave you feeling intimidated or dampen your enjoyment. So we tapped Southern sommeliers to spill about a handful of common wine missteps you can easily avoid—if you’re aware of them. Here are five mistakes to avoid.

#1: Refusing To Ask For Help

Why go it alone?

“Sommeliers and wine shop employees not only have extensive knowledge of the restaurant or store’s wine selections, but more importantly, we’re there because we love the stuff,” admits Andrés Loaiza, head sommelier and general manager at Aria in Atlanta. 

One of the few things most wine professionals love more than tasting wine? Talking about it. 

“Our goal is to meet you wherever you are in your wine journey and connect you with new labels that you’re going to love,” Hamilton says.

You don’t need to know all the fancy wine flavor and aroma verbiage. Simply keep track of what you’ve tried and preferred. An app like Vivino can be helpful for this, or snap photos of labels and sort them into a “Wine Winner” folder on your phone. This will give a wine expert context about what you gravitate to so they can offer a “you might also like” recommendation that’s just as—or hopefully even more—satisfying. 

“Don’t be afraid to branch out and try different varietals. This is part of the joy of wine,” says Oliver Wilcher, director of restaurant services at Reynolds Lake Oconee, a luxury resort community in Greensboro, Georgia. “Unexpected flavors and textures may lead you to new discoveries, adding to your understanding of what’s possible and what’s wonderful."

#2: Believing That Price Determines Quality

Try not to be thrown off by the price tag when trying to choose the wine you enjoy.

The retail price for a bottle of wine is impacted by an array of factors, including the location of the land the grapes are grown on, how popular or respected the brand and winemaker are, how the grapes are farmed, how the wine is aged, and the cost for external factors like the bottle, closure, label, and gas for shipping.

“An expensive wine does not necessarily mean it will be better than something more affordable. I believe there is wine for everyone,” says Antoine Paul, sommelier and assistant general manager at Bull and Bear inside Waldorf Astoria Orlando in Orlando, Florida, and you can score a seriously solid bottle of wine around $30.

#3: Being Afraid To Break A Wine “Rule”

“Sure, there are some general guidelines that can be helpful and that will ease decision-making sometimes, but don’t let those guidelines keep you from one of wine’s greatest pleasures: the discovery,” Loaiza says.

If you place too many rules about what to drink when, and with what, you might limit your ability to land on your own perfect pairing. For example, the old guard often suggested that fish should only be paired with rosé or white wine. But Loaiza loves pouring Pinot Noir with meatier cuts of fish, such as salmon, swordfish, and tuna. This is especially true if you pop that bottle of red into the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving.

“Giving a light red wine a little bit of a chill? Sounds like a delightful way to spend a summer evening in the South to me,” Loaiza says.

Most dishes can be paired with several different wines with equally-amazing results, Wilcher chimes in. Cabernet Sauvignon is great with steak, true, but Merlot, Malbec, or Zinfandel might be even better, depending on the sauces, preparation style, and garnishes. 

So if you like rosé in winter or prefer your entire holiday dinner with bubbles rather than starting with Champagne and moving on to still wine, go for it. The best wine for any occasion is the wine you enjoy at that moment.

“Taste your wine after finishing a bite. If you like the experience on your palette, you’ve found a great pairing,” Hamilton says.

#4: Thinking Every Wine Tastes The Same

No two bottles of wine are exactly the same. It’s not uncommon to find subtle variation between two bottles of the same wine—yes, even from the same bottling by a single producer from the same year.

“But for more dramatic effect, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from, say, Napa, will always be very different from one from France,” Loiaza says.

Wine is an agricultural product, just like peaches. Are you a California, South Carolina, or Georgia peach type of person? You can taste them all and determine which peach you usually like best. The same holds true for wines. If you adore rosé, sample ones with Grenache, Montelpulciano, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Mourvèdre, and a blend. Then once you’ve found what you tend to gravitate toward, find that base grape featured in rosé from two different countries. This can often help you spot the differences vividly.

By the way, don’t forget to sample some wines from the South. 

“The outside perception from many is that the South doesn’t have the climate to make good wines due to excessive heat and humidity,” Wilcher says. “In fact, through proper viticulture, many winemakers are producing structured and elegant wines.”

#5: Forgetting To Stock Your Home

Number 6 on our list of the top 7 commandments of Southern entertaining? Be prepared. And this applies to the drinks, too. Even if you don’t own a fancy wine fridge, it’s wise to keep some bottles at home for drop-in guests and planned entertaining occasions (and your own personal enjoyment when the mood strikes). 

“Hosting guests comes with plenty to think about already. Take care of one thing on your list by stocking wine ahead of time,” Hamilton says.

How much is enough? When hosting, a good best practice is to estimate ½ bottle per person for every 2 hours. So for a 4-hour cocktail party, invest in 1 bottle per person, just in case. (Unopened leftovers will definitely last until your next soiree, so it’s best to err on the ample side.) 

Hamilton recommends keeping three to four different selections on hand for each gathering, with multiple bottles of each. This way, you’re fairly well prepared to complement a mix of dishes and satisfy varying guest preferences, “while looking like a pro in the process,” since you’ve narrowed the selections down, Hamilton says. 

The Bottom Line

You have our full permission to break the traditional wine rules. Now that you have our solutions to common wine mistakes, you can wisely explore new territory—and can hopefully bring to light even more bottles you’ll love…and love to share. 

Try to be gentle along the way, Loaiza advises: “Take your time, be patient with yourself, keep an open mind, and go about it with a sense of exploration. No one learned everything about wine in one day, and those of us that work with wine professionally are still learning with every sip.”

Regardless of how you feel about what’s in your glass, if you’re enjoying time with the people around you, “you made the right choice of what wine to pour,” Hamilton says.