Walk into any shop and the sheer number of bottles is the thing that makes most people give up before they've started. But almost everything on those shelves falls into a small handful of families, and once you can place a bottle in its family, you're most of the way to knowing what to expect from it.
Here are the ones worth knowing.
Red. Made with the grape skins left in, which is where the colour comes from, and that slightly drying, grippy feeling. (tannin) Reds run all the way from light and delicate to big and bold, and that range tells you more about a red than almost anything else.
White. Usually made without the skins, so much less of that grippy feeling, and generally served cold. They go from crisp and zippy to round and almost creamy.
Rose. Not a mix of red and white, despite what it looks like. It's red grapes given only a brief moment of skin contact, just enough for a blush of colour. Served cold, easy, lovely in warm weather.
Sparkling. The ones with bubbles. Champagne is the famous name, but it's a name reserved only for sparkling wine from one specific region in France, the way not every sparkling water is Perrier. Prosecco from Italy and Cava from Spain can do much the same job for less, and is also often referred to as "champagne". But there's no need to be that person who has to correct everyone.
Sweet. Dessert wines, where the sweetness is the whole point rather than a flaw. A little goes a long way. Sometimes even mixed with tonic or soda water.
Fortified. Wine with a spirit added, which makes it stronger and lets it last a lot longer once it's open. Port and sherry are the two you'll meet most.
You don't need to memorise any of this. You just need to stop seeing one undifferentiated wall of bottles, and start seeing six or so families, each with its own personality.
