Great Chardonnay wines are as classic as pearls. And just like pearls, they go in and out of style, ubiquitous in some decades, less so in others, sometimes styled one way, sometimes another…but always persisting, frequently imitated and with huge variations in quality.

If you thought of pearls as grandma’s go-to before finally picking up a version of your own, it’s probably time to revisit her Chardonnays, too. They’re so much more than the 90’s-style butter bombs you might have tried in the past. This tasting highlights the regions and countries that have defined modern Chardonnay while offering 3 style categories to help you figure out where your own preferences lie. After all, no two pearls are exactly alike, even before being styled…and neither are Chardonnays.

Since next Friday is Valentine’s Day, this week’s tasting theme is focused a grape variety that produces some of the most plush, velvety wines around: Merlot.

Merlot has been the unfortunate recipient of some hate over the years, especially in 2004’s Sideways, in which main character Miles screams that he’s “not drinking any fucking Merlot!,” a line that tanked Merlot sales for years afterward in the United States.

If you’re giving Merlot a second (or first) chance, I think you’ll find that many of these wines are like the warm, cozy and always-forgiving cocoon coats of the wine world. Comforting, yet with structure that gives them a simple sophistication in a Scandi style kind of way.

And even if you’re a fellow Valentine’s Day skeptic, a mid-February hug in a bottle shared with people you love sounds pretty good to me.

Syrah, Shiraz, tomato, tom-ah-to. Whichever name you give it, it’s a grape variety that makes some of the world’s greatest (and in my totally biased opinion, sexiest) wines.

The thing is, I’m a total sucker for a great nose on a wine. I was the kind of teen who lifted the lid to sniff every single candle in the White Barn Candle Co. store in the mall, even though I had zero intention of buying anything. Drugstore shampoos and body lotions, melons in the grocery store, even cleaning products all needed to pass my sniff tests as a young adult. I haven’t changed a bit, so it’s not at all surprising that sticking my nose into wine glasses is an activity endlessly entertains me.

Even if you reserve your sniffing for more “normal” activities like perfume or cologne shopping and cooking, I encourage you to let yourself abandon all self-consciousness about your wine expertise (or lack thereof) and to just stick your noses deep into these glasses of Syrah and Shiraz to experience how incredibly fascinating these aromatic red wines can be.

If you’ve made it this far without running away from the word “sweet,” congratulations! You’re in for a real treat. Sweet Rieslings, like most sweet wines these days, are just not all that popular, despite the unassailable fact that humans both love and crave sweets.

Even in Denmark, right next door to Germany, where the crème de la crème of sweet Rieslings are made, these wines aren’t exactly flying off the shelves. Wines that were once among the most premium wines in the world are simply not commanding the market interest or prices commensurate with the high level of effort and risk required to produce them.

Selfishly, part of me wants to gatekeep these wines from the massive American market, since increased interest will drive prices back up. But the dedicated producers of these wines deserve the sales, and let’s be real, I couldn’t gatekeep if I tried. I guess that’s the American in me, always ready to share a good find.

I feel that I should clarify upfront that I unabashedly love Rieslings. I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea (yet), but Rieslings are for sure amongst my desert island wines, the ones I’d absolutely need to include if I were ever forced to whittle down my wine selection to just the barest of minimums.

That said, my love for Riesling is not actually the reason why I’m creating two Riesling tastings back to back. This tasting is focused on dry Rieslings from around the world, while next week’s will focus on tasting through the styles in between dry and fully sweet, because there is quite the range on offer.

Rieslings are wines that I reach for again and again. I hope that after this tasting, you will too.

Pinot Noir is the Goldilocks of grapes. It needs conditions that are just right to make great wine. And it’s also somehow the fifth most planted red grape variety in the world. You’d think that fewer producers would want to mess with such a cruel mistress of a grape, but Pinot Noir wines, when they’re good, are just really, really good. Mesmerizingly good. This tasting focuses on some of the world’s best regions for still red Pinot Noir wines.

Grenache. Garnacha. Granaccia. Cannonau. Many names, one grape. It just depends on where it grows. Grenache is probably best-known as the “G” in GSM wines, southern France’s Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blends. An unsurprising claim to fame, since Grenache is often blended with other grape varieties. Grenache has a reputation for being a bit “blah” by itself, since the grapes can accumulate lots of sugar, resulting in high alcohol wines that lack sufficient acidity to taste balanced.

But. (There’s always a “but” when it comes to wine.) More and more producers are finding ways to bring out the best in Grenache. And the vine’s ability to thrive in dry soils is coming in handy in these times of climate change, as droughts have become commonplace in some wine regions. This tasting will take you through Grenache’s greatest hits, both in blends and monovarietal wines, so that you can decide whether it’s blah or brilliant.

Sauvignon Blanc is responsible for some of the most in-demand wines in the world: Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand. In recent years, there have even been product shortages when harvests have been smaller and demand has continued to increase. And yet, there are some who adamantly dislike Sauvignon Blanc wines, even among adventurous wine people. I’m in the “love it!” camp, though I still have my preferences amongst the various styles produced. Hopefully this tasting will help you determine where you stand on Sauvignon Blanc.