Second is the keeping up appearances factor. As rudimentary wine knowledge has become more commonplace, the pressure of appearing well-informed about wine both in social and professional situations has risen in equal measure to wine's global popularity. In my travels more than a few people have related to me their horror stories of trying to look sophisticated when confronted with wine decisions so that their friends, dates, or business associates think they know what they're talking about. He reported with palpable discomfort that his brain goes into red-alert meltdown stage as everything he thought he had learned about wine at parties and tastings suddenly sprouts wings and flies away. Staying au courant in any field of interest is hard work.
Nobody likes feeling like the train's departed and they're just arriving at the station.
But, there's slightly more to the solution of this problem than the mere recitation of a rehearsed list of wines. Knowing the rules When you don't have a specific wine in mind, chances are you'll end up dealing, even if briefly, with a sales person. Buying wine in retail stores can be made significantly easier when you follow a few, simple suggestions designed to take the edge off of the experience. The aim is to tightly focus the attention of the sales person on your needs. Set your price ceiling.