KEN SWARNER: WELCOME TO WINO >>>

Welcome to Wino, the Weekly Volcano’s new online wine column â€" the online space that promises a wine education with no nets.

How many tasks literally strike fear in people? Singing in front of folks? Yes. Having children? It should. Ordering wine? You can feel your pits dripping, can’t you?

Mark Merrill, owner of Pour at Four says wine intimidates most people. But anyone can change that â€" it just takes time and the complete erasing of your brain regarding what you think you already know about the grape. You must rewind the movie Sideways, tune out wine gurus, forget what self-possessed “wine snobs” think they know, and try to erase those nasty comments your family has made about the white zinfandel you like to drink. In other words, stop feeling insecure just because you can’t taste the difference between Dom Perignon and Cook’s Brut. That’s right, pull the spit bucket close and expectorate those decades of wine insecurities you have ingested.

Merrill says there’s no right or wrong in wine preferences. Sure, magazine writers, vineyard owners and sommeliers say to the contrary, but that’s mostly because they’d be out of a job if they couldn’t convince most people they were right. What they say about taste is irrelevant anyway, because (hold your glass) everyone’s taste buds are different. What the experts taste is not what you will taste and vice versa. Do you care that some people actually like the taste of cow testicles? Feel bad you don’t? Of course not â€" to each his own. So what if your beloved Washington Cabernet costs $6.95 a bottle â€" you love it â€" screw the rest of them.

So I asked Merrill how long it takes for the average person to feel secure ordering wine in public.

He laughed and said that question misses the point. From the start, he says, everyone should shed the intimidation. Start ordering wine and discovering what you like immediately and confidently.

But if you must study, Merrill likes Wine for Dummies.

Next week we’ll discuss some whites. Therefore, your homework is to try one or two or three glasses, bottles or barrels of white wine by next week at this time.

And, if you want to offer your thoughts on the vino, please contribute here.

Cheers.