You've seen us at fine restaurants, swirling our wine glasses about, making faces, concentrating only on what we are tasting. We're called wine connoisseurs, or snobs. What you don't know is that with a little bit of knowledge, you will want to become one too.

Wine has been around almost since the beginning of time. And for that long, there have been two types of wine drinkers. Those that drink it to get drunk and those that take the time to appreciate the look, smell, taste and complexity of every glass they come across.

First the basics. There are three main types of wine. White, red and blush. A white wine is made one of two ways - either from a red grape by first removing and discarding the skin which carries a red pigment, or from a white grape. To make red wine, the grape skins are crushed along with the fruit. In a blush or rose (pronounced roe-say), the red skins are left with the juice for only a fraction of time before being quickly removed.

Along with color, red grape skins add tannin - a distinct flavour which sometimes causes a reaction like headaches or sneezing in some people. If this happens to you, I suggest sticking with white wine.