If you get red wine teeth as easily as I do, take your selfies before this tasting really gets going. American red wines are known for being some of the wine world’s biggest, boldest, ripest reds. That means your teeth could end up looking like you’ve befriended Dracula. I can also recommend wearing dark clothes or busy prints, because red wine spills and splashes are real, even for the highly experienced among us.

That said, more and more American producers have dialed back on the ‘bigger is better’ approach, making extremely elegant, nuanced and restrained styles of red wines, so consider mentioning your preferences when shopping for this tasting if you already know that you like one style more than the other.

Either way, this American Reds tasting is going to focus on monovarietal, or single-variety red wines. There are plenty of fantastic red blends in the US too, they’re just not the focus of this tasting, which will help you get to know the differences between the best-known varietal wines in the United States.

Austria always makes me think of Alpine skiers and hearty dishes like Wiener Schnitzel, knödels, and apfelstrudel. And if you just thought, wait, aren’t those foods German? Think again. Austria and Germany share a language and many cultural traditions, but Austria has a history just as long, complex and fascinating as its northern neighbor. And it has a wine culture all its own.

Austria’s capital city, Vienna, consistently tops lists of “most liveable cities in the world,” and I like to think that might be at least a teensy bit to do with the fact that Vienna is also the world’s only metropolis still growing vines and making wine within city limits. This is a country where wine has been made since the Bronze Age, and if the preservation of the vines within its capital is any indication, wine culture here is still going strong. This is your sign to get to know Austrian wines, starting with some of its best-known styles: the whites.

No one is surprised that the first Italian tasting here is focused on the reds. Italy is famous for its red wines, but please don’t count out the whites! We’ll get to those another time, don’t worry. This tasting covers the “biggies.” The must-know Italian red wine styles, the ones that are widely exported and have come to represent Italy’s modern wine culture, even though it’s far more diverse than we could ever cover in a single tasting.

French reds. Les vins rouges. Some of the most esoteric, expensive and imitated wines in the world. But also some of the most exuberant, relaxed and accessible. Wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux are considered the crème de la crème of the wine auction world, with bottle prices that can rival luxury cars. But those same regions have a myriad of delicious options at affordable prices too. This is a tasting theme that’s full of contradictions, and the good news is that there are enough options out there, so you can decide how deep to go.

If you’re going to start anywhere, start here. Yes, even those of you who “only drink red wine.” The white wines of France are some of the world’s most versatile and classic wines, and they’re well worth exploring and understanding. I’d even be willing to bet that the most die-hard red wine drinkers among you will find at least one white here to love.