Mark Green. Photo: Duane Tinkey Writer: Lily Allen-Dueñas Wine can feel mysterious, even intimidating. With the swirling glasses, the fancy terminology and all those endless regions, sometimes it seems like you could use a wine translator. That’s where Mark Green comes in. If you’ve ever sippe d a glass at Lucca, browsed the aisles at Gateway Market or stopped in for provisions at The Cheese Shop, you might have spotted him chatting with the staff or checking out the inventory. He teaches management and marketing at Simpson College by day and is also a self-taught wine enthusiast who’s spent decades tasting wines from around the world. For the last few years, he’s been a go-to consultant for East Village restaurateurs. Here, he shares his best tips for wine drinkers of every level and vintage. Beginner tips to build confidence Learn a few grapes. Get to know a few common varietals. For the whites, start with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Grigio; for the reds, try Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Sangiovese. Once you can discern the basic profiles (citrusy vs. buttery, light vs. full-bodied), you can order or buy wine more confidently wherever you go. Take photos of bottles you like. The most common rookie problem? Forgetting what you like. Solve this by snapping a quick photo of the labels you tried or want to buy. Then, when you’re shopping, show those photos to a staffer — ideally, at a local shop where they taste their own inventory — and say, “I liked these. What else should I try?” Learn the basic lingo. Skip the intimidating vocabulary and start with just a few words that matter. “Dry,” “off-dry” and “sweet” describe a wine’s residual sugar. White wine that spends time in oak barrels before bottling often tastes “buttery,” “rich” or “toasty,” while oaked red wines may offer notions of spice and smoke. Unoaked wines feel fresher. “Light” and “heavy” refer to how a wine feels on your palate. See? You already sound like a pro. Mid-level tips to refine your palate Pay attention to place. Take note of geography, in addition to the grapes themselves. If you pay a little attention to soil composition (volcanic, limestone, clay), elevation (high-altitude brightness) and climate patterns (warm or cool), you’ll start to understand how those factors shape a wine’s flavor and texture. They help explain why a wine tastes the way it does. T is for “temperature.” While fancy glassware looks impressive, it actually matters less than the wine’s temperature. Green recommends serving reds at 58 degrees Fahrenheit and chilling whites and sparkling wines so they’re cool but not freezing, since ice-cold wine loses its flavor. Also, keep your mitts off the bowl of the glass. Hold the glass by the stem to help maintain the wine’s temperature. Practice makes the palate. This is Green’s version of a real estate agent’s “location, location, location.” Taste, taste, taste. Expert tips for the next level Discover wines the best restaurants are pouring. Green reads wine lists from Michelin-starred restaurants and sees which bottles he can get in Iowa. Even experts spot new surprises this way. Practice “genchi genbutsu.” Green picked up this Japanese phrase from Ford CEO and former Toyota executive Jim Farley, and it means “real location, real thing” or “go and find out.” For experts, this means getting as close to the source as possible by visiting vineyards and meeting winemakers. It’s the difference between reading about a region and actually exploring it. Know when to cellar and when to drink. Most wines on shelves today are ready to drink now, but experts know that some need age to soften tannins. Even so, Green suggests that a “special bottle” shouldn’t be hoarded into oblivion. Sometimes opening a spendy bottle on a random Tuesday really is the best decision. n Contributor Lily Allen-Dueñas is a Sonoma County native who married a Frenchman, resulting in an everlasting, good-natured debate over which wine country deserves the crown. ...read more read less