One of the most common things we hear from new customers at our shop goes something like this: "I really don't know much about wine, and I am going to a friend's home for dinner tonight, and they are really into wine. I don't know what to bring." Many of our best customers were a bit intimidated by wine when we first met, but as you get to know folks, what they are really intimidated by is talking about wine.

As a wine professional, I get it. "Wine professional" is often synonymous with "wine geek," and like geeks of all kinds, those that are really into wine can get a bit caught up in talking about fermentations, punchdowns, new versus used oak barrels, and so on and so on. No doubt this can be intimidating to wine consumers who are more focused on just getting the right bottle to take to their wine enthusiast friend or to enjoy that night with dinner.

Many times, folks will add to their opening line of not knowing a lot about wine, "but I do know what I like and don't like." This is - and actually always will be - the most important thing to know about wine. For wine consumers, this is the most important thing to communicate to the wine professional you encounter in a shop like ours, or while perusing a restaurant wine list.

The last thing you need to worry about, too, is using the more "geeky" terms to describe what you like and don't like. Use terms that your palate communicates to your brain, like smooth, fruity, sweet, or the always accurate, yummy. What you don't like is just as easy to share with the person helping you in a wine shop - bitter, dirty, or stinky are all helpful to a good wine professional in knowing whole areas to avoid recommending.

If you have had a wine in the past that you really enjoyed and you can remember the grape varietal or the producer, this is always helpful. Even if it came in a box or was purchased from the grocery store, it helps us guide you to something similar. If it is a wine you enjoyed, it should never be intimidating - you liked it and that is all that matters, and will lead you to more choices that you will most likely enjoy.

Wine need not be intimidating due to price, either. We carry wine in our shop from $8, and from time to time we even find some real winners that hit the shelf at $5. For consumers, the important thing, again, is to let the wine person you are dealing with know how much you want to spend. One of the first questions we ask folks when they come into the store is how much they want to spend on a bottle. All of us have prices we are willing to pay - that is why not all wine is expensive. There are really good wines made at all price points.

One of the best ways to demystify wines and make them less intimidating is to continue to try new things. Whether it be at tastings or by ordering wine by the glass at a restaurant, we have the chance to expand our list of likes and dislikes virtually daily. The great importer Kermit Lynch had a great line recently, "The wine world is pretty vast and diverse and it's not marriage. You don't have to be faithful to one style." We agree.

Nor do you need to be faithful to a singular grape varietal or producer. For us, trying new things is always fun. The best way to make wine less intimidating is knowing that you have tried a few more things, and learn on which side of the like/dislike ledger they fall. The next time you talk to a wine geek, the conversation part will likely be less intimidating when you can say, "Oh yeah, I tried the Cahors. It was yummy."

Most every wine professional in the area strives to make purchasing wine easy and understandable, and therefore not intimidating. As wine consumers of every knowledge level know, the easiest descriptor is to say that it is really good or really not very good - no mystery or intimidation there. That simple, uncomplicated evaluation will clear the way for more choices for every purchase, and every consumer.

If there is a topic you would like to read about, or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party, a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo and is the wine editor for Coeur d'Alene Magazine (www.cdamagazine.com). You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles, as well as other great wine tips, by friending us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.