Now, if you’re going for your Master Sommelier certification or if you want an advanced cram on the wines of Northern Italy, a wine course is just the thing. There are even courses for restaurant wait staff on proper service, and for top executives who need to appear “wine savvy” when ordering in front of other CEOs. All of these programs have their merits. But vast segments of the potential wine-enjoying population labor under the impression that it is not possible to purchase (let alone enjoy) wine without undertaking some intense postgraduate program. Silliness, say I.

Formal wine education is no more necessary taking a cheese class before enjoying cheese or a bread class before enjoying bread or a beer class before enjoying beer. And I’m not using these examples lightly; each category is far more complex and varied, to my mind, than the world of wine.

First of all, with the exception of particular non-grape wines (like honey-based mead), wine is only made once a year (hence, vintage). Strike One for all of the other consumables above, which are made year-round, many with delightful seasonal variations to keep track of.

How about this doozy: ingredients. That’s Strike Two for our friends cheese, bread and beer, each of which contains many, many ingredients which vary worldwide and by season. Wine, well… it’s, uh, grapes (by law at least 75%, as we learned last month in this column).

Furthermore, the sheer number and variety associated with cheese, bread and beer is mind-numbing. For instance, France offers more than 500 different types of cheese from 25 distinct regulated regions. Mind you, that’s 500 types, each of which exists as more than one specific cheese. Pity French wine: just 375 types from less than 20 regions. Kinda sad. And so on and so forth for beers (don’t get me started on Belgians and Germans) and breads.