Step One:<br>Know Your Wine Regions

Quite a few areas of the world are well known for producing good wine. Of course, they also produce some real stinkers, but the first indication of good wine is where it comes from; unlike beer (which can be made almost anywhere), quality wine can be made from grapes growing in relatively few places in the world. Here are a few:

• The United States makes great wine. The best generally comes from California, with Napa and Sonoma counties being the best-known regions. Some very good wine is also made in Oregon.
• The French have been famous for wine for so long that it's not funny. Wines from the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions are probably the most widely available, along with Champagne, of course.
• Italian wines can be marvelous. Chianti and Tuscany are the best known worldwide. Spumanti is a popular Italian sparkler.
• The Spanish make very good sparkling wines, called Cava, along with their Rioja (reds) and Sherry.
• Chilean wines are known for being good values. The United States imports a lot of reasonably priced but very good Chilean red wine.
• Australia is an up and coming wine producer on the world market, and their Shiraz is generally a good bet.
  

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