I am nowhere close to an expert on wine, but the way I started was by trying all the different regions of France (or most of the major ones). By the time you drink from all the regions, you should start getting a good idea of the different tastes, etc. Another good way might be to try by grape variety. Mostly, the grape variety determines the taste of the wine, so by learning (and tasting) all the grapes you should get a really good idea of different types of wine. I guess if you live in the States, it would be easier to try by grape variety because that`s the way the wines are labelled (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc.). Also, it`s cheaper to buy local wine instead of imported. Another thing...in my early days of wine drinking I tried GOOD (and at times, expensive) bottles too. This way, I thought I could an idea of what the real stuff should taste like
http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=8544
